


True Rise to Power

by Rammgirl



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-23 11:40:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 88,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20891519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rammgirl/pseuds/Rammgirl
Summary: The Cell Games are interrupted and Cell gets pulled out of his dream of power and destruction. Dropped in a world that knows nothing of using energy, he struggles to find a way back across. Luckily, the company he finds himself with is more than happy to keep him hidden and entertained.





	1. The Cake is a Lie

Chapter 1

The Cake is a Lie

The Cell Games were in full swing. Earth’s population was in shock from both the defeat of their great champion, Hercule Satan, and the explosive battle that was currently taking place between the golden haired hero, Goku, and the tyrant android, Cell. They moved too quickly for the human eye to follow, but their clash of powers could be heard at the arena and beyond. In a sudden crash, the two fighters could be seen in the arena again, only to see the hero be pushed to the edge of the ring and his opponent desperately trying to ring him out. With a bit of balance and footwork, he recovered from the edge and went for his own attempt to knock the menace from the ring, but recovered quickly as well. Both were airborne again, and the hero was suddenly blocked from his retreat by the seething foe.

“This has been a magnificent battle! It would be a shame to see it end over something so trivial as going out of bounds.” The golden hero leered as his opponent continued, “From now on we won’t count that as a disqualifying factor. Which means the ring has outlived its usefulness.” 

His pale hand stretched out, preparing for what could only look like an attack of some sort.

“Hold on,” Goku glared at the android. “What are you planning to do?” Moments passed as their stances held fast, and suddenly realization hit Goku as Cell grinned.

“Guys! Move! Get away from the ring! Hurry!! Cell’s about the destroy it!” Goku barely got the shout out as the flash engulfed the arena, leaving nothing but a clouded crater in its wake. The spectators recovered from the blast, some giving more distance while others were standing fast. The fighters freely descended down, no longer limited by an arena.

“Now the entire planet is our ring. We fight to the end until someone surrenders or dies,” Cell smugly announced.

“Alright,” Goku met the challenge. “Sounds like you’re ready to get serious.”

“An opponent of such high caliber demands no less.”

“Fair enough.” Goku took the moment to stretch; almost mocking the fact that the android had lifted the boundaries to assure the battle would not be mere entertainment anymore.

“Now,” Cell lifted an arm, seemingly mirroring Goku’s pause to stretch, “let’s see what sort of fun we can have with all this extra space!” With that, a serious ki blast was hurled towards the hero and he leapt away, moving quickly as more energy flailed toward him. Dodging the blasts, he turned and countered with his own set of blasts that leveled the rocks in the area and made it impossible to see through the debris. Goku charged again, locking palms with Cell and pitting power to power, seeing who would falter first. Canceling each other out, they suddenly charged again with combos of fists and dodges. Seemingly taking the upper hand, Goku launched Cell across the landscape, but he quickly recovered and launched a flurry of blasts to stop him in his pursuit. Suddenly Goku sprang from the cloud of dust and launched himself upward, clearly giving himself distance between him and his opponent. Unsure of the maneuver, Cell watched as the hero placed his palms out before him in a classical pose.

“Ka….Me...” Immediately the concerns of his friends were well known as they each quickly dismissed the move as a bluff.

“You’re just posturing aren’t you?” Cell mused, also calling the bluff. “You’re obviously not gonna launch an attack that would risk destroying the entire planet!”

“Ha…Me!!”

“What? Seriously!?” Cell didn’t know whether to prepare or dodge, but continued to watch for the outcome of what seemed to be a desperate move for the hero. Suddenly everyone on the field was watching with bated breath as the powered-up move was ready to be launched.

“No! He wouldn’t dare…!” Goku suddenly vanished. The look on Cell’s face went from confusion to clear understanding as his gaze lowered to the Sayajin crouched before him, eyes full of fury and rage as he thrust his palms forward…

“Noooo!”

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The explosion rocked the entire landscape, light engulfing his opponent and seemingly incinerating him. The dust and debris fluttered and settled, revealing the damage that had been done. Cell’s entire upper body was blown away, leaving him lifeless on the ground. A few cheers from the cliffs sounded at the victory, but the silence from the rest was unnerving to say the least. Even Goku held his form as he felt the blast wasn’t a victory just yet.

‘_This can’t be right_. _Even now I’m still sensing a lot of energy coming from him’ _Goku stared, unsure of his next move. But suddenly Krillin shouted out to him, and the fear was realized as Cell leapt back to his feet and quickly regenerated his upper half.

“Don’t know why I’m surprised,” Goku muttered. “I should have known you would be able to regenerate.”

Cell regarded the hero’s fury with a casual tone. “Piccolo’s cells are quite useful in that regard.”

“I thought you went down a bit too easily. But regenerating half a body still takes a lot of energy. You’re not at full strength anymore.” Goku hoped the declaration would bring some hope to the fight, but Cell was more than ready with his own.

“That goes for you as well. You were breathing pretty hard after that last attack.”

After a pause, Cell wasted no time in making sure Goku had little time to recover. “Shall we continue? I’m sure it goes without saying that I’m not gonna fall for your little trick again. So I’m afraid this fight is going to get dull rather quickly if that was your only ace in the hole.”

Goku’s energy flared up as he angrily shouted, “Not even close!”

“That’s the spirit!” and Cell matched the power-up once again.

They launched back into the battle as if the blast was a mere distraction. Fists were flying at speeds not visible again, and the pattern of hit-and-counter sounded through the air. For a few moments the heated battle seemed to be evenly matched. Each fighter had to pause and stare the other down as they caught their breath.

“What’s the matter Goku? Is that really all you’ve got?” Cell teased.

Goku fell for the taunt. “No way!” But as he charged once more, Cell took the upper hand and slammed a knee to his gut, doubling him over. He grabbed the exhausted fighter by the collar. Not able to fight back, Goku could only watch as Cell pulled an arm back and crashed his fist into his face and was launched into a cliff side, buried beneath the rubble.

Cell took the moment to dive in for the blow, but suddenly a burst of energy launched the debris outward, showing that Goku still wasn’t down for the count. The display halted Cell for a moment until a flurry of ki blasts were thrown at him in array. Unable to move away from the attack, he was forced to block and take the assault. The world watched on as the golden display quickly enveloped the perfect being and cheered for the oncoming victory. Goku pressed on, not skipping a beat as the blasts hit their mark and kept the android immobile.

With a sudden cry, Cell’s energy pressed outward and a purple barrier expanded rapidly from his body, fizzling out the energy Goku kept throwing in an effort to break past the barrier. Soon he stopped his efforts, seeing that Cell had the power to keep the barrier up.

“Far be it for me to deny credit where credit is deserved, Goku. That was quite impressive. You’ve backed me into a bubble, so to speak.”

The world looked on at their screens, wondering if what they saw was real or merely an illusion. Others looked on worried that their hero may have gotten himself in over his head. Cell’s power was clearly keeping pace even after Goku caught him off-guard; meanwhile Goku seemed to be struggling. The barrier dissipated and Cell kept his position, enjoying the fact that while Goku stayed grounded catching his breath he could jump back into the fight.

“Am I imagining things or did you power level just drop like a stone?” Cell mocked. “I suggest you eat one of those little beans. The last thing we want is for the festivities to get dull.”

Trunks heard the suggestion and immediately jumped on it, desperately trying to convince Krillin to throw Goku one of the sensu beans he kept. Others jeered him on, but he waited. Something didn’t seem right about assisting Goku without being asked by him himself. Suddenly Vegeta halted the entire scene, righteously siding with Goku being the warrior and making his decisions for himself despite how the battle may look.

“What’s the issue? Does your pride not care for the taste of magical beans?” Cell began his taunts again.

“Your little display now did cost me a considerable amount of strength. And slim as your chances of defeating me are, restoring yourself to full power would at least keep things interesting.” Yet another jab at keeping the fight going.

“If I can’t enjoy myself all of this will have been for nothing, now eat the damn sensu and come to me!” It was clear Cell was losing his patience and needed the excitement at max to keep him from losing his temper. But Goku stayed calm, keeping his composure and waiting out the fuming android. Suddenly, he grinned and powered down, the radiating glow vanishing from his body.

“I’m done. Let’s call it here. Now that I’ve sized up your strength it’s pretty obvious that I can’t win. I’m throwing in the towel.”

The look on Cell’s face was priceless! The greatest fighter the planet could produce, and he was going to let his opponent take the win on a forfeit!? The cries from the cliff were similar with Vegeta, Krillin, Trunks, and a few of the others. Piccolo was the only one not surprised, but certainly was angry over the declaration.

“You’re calling it quits. Pathetic! You mean to end this fight before it’s barely even begun!?”

“Pretty much!” Goku beamed. “Victory goes to you Cell!”

“Well Goku, I hope you’re prepared to accept the consequences of your actions.” Cell clearly could not accept the victory without at least baiting Goku into reconsidering.

“Yup!”

Just as Cell was about to challenge him again a strong wind suddenly picked up. The sky darkened a shade and a heavy feeling of static electricity seemed to hover over the area. Cell immediately perked up at the idea of the battle continuing.

“Another technique you’ve kept under wraps until desperation!?” Goku however seemed equally surprised, even nervous, that something he didn’t have any knowledge of was occurring. The heavy air suddenly formed into a rotating wall separating the two opponents and became slightly visible with a light purple hue to it. The feeling the entity was giving off forced several to suspect the culprit was not anyone on the field. The energy was not like that of the warriors or the android, but seemingly darker and much more potent. Goku started to back off, not liking how the energy was fluctuating between him and Cell. The android seemed less concerned, but still unsure of what to make of the new intrusion.

“Perhaps another opponent that waited until an opportunity opened?” Cell inquired, not really expecting an answer, but was quickly dismissed when the energy shifted again, this time surrounding him. He felt claustrophobic as the pressure bared down around him, pinning him in midair. He shot glances at the other fighters, but they all stood just as stunned as he was.

Suddenly realizing his predicament, he shouted out in clear anger, “Whoever is using this power will pay dearly! Make yourself known!” Goku seemed to snap out of his stunned confusion at that point.

“Cell, no one here has that kind of power! It’s not us!!” He didn’t know whether he should let the situation play out or try to lend the android some help, but he didn’t get a moment to dwell on the idea as the wall suddenly shifted into a physical form, being barely able to see through it anymore. Cell suddenly powered up as quickly as he could, feeling the need to flee from the surrounding wall, but was completely drained of his energy! The more he drew from it, the faster it left him! Fear crossed his stunned features and the realization that he was trapped and in trouble finally hit him. The purple mass suddenly seemed to implode on itself with Cell in the middle and in an instant, vanished into thin air. The sky was normal again and the winds halted. The heavy feeling was gone and there was still no one to claim the maneuver.

“What just happened!?” Goku shouted.

The world went black and empty for the android. He only felt suspended for a moment before being released and free-falling facedown to the ground. The last thing he felt was his limbs heavily crashing through something and feeling crushed by a great force, and then blacked out.

Thanks for reading. Feedback is greatly appreciated!


	2. The Arrival

Chapter 2

The Arrival

The sun beamed brightly through the bedroom window, forcing me to pull the covers over my head and roll back to my spot on the bed. I was only able to rest for another minute before I could feel the cold noses and wagging tails of the two sharing my bed, clearly wanting their breakfast. Sitting up and finally opening my eyes, I was happily pounced on and drenched in kisses before finally swinging my feet to the floor.

“Morning you mongrels,” I growled as I ruffled my hands through their fur. The bigger female, Balla, quickly hopped off the bed and stretched out, ready to take on the day. The smaller pup, Lati, rolled to her back for a belly scratch. How could I resist the cuteness?

We made our way down to the kitchen. Impatient as ever, they ran down and back, waiting for the bowls to be filled. I started the Keurig up for my morning latte as they scarfed down their food. A few moments later they were fed and my latte poured into the cup.

“We still have a few minutes, let’s head outside!” I whistled to them. The machine always brewed too hot for my tongue to handle, so other chores were a great way to kill time for it to cool. Both dogs bolted for the back door. I grabbed my sweater and slipped my old shoes on before heading out back. My grey pajama pants started to dampen as I trudged through the grass glistening with morning dew. The dogs ran about, tails wagging and noses sniffing before finally catching up with me to the gate. Putting my arms over the wooden planks, my hands were greeted with another set of soft noses, sniffing and licking, searching for breakfast. My hands pulled out the treats from my sweater.

“Morning boys, do we deserve treats today?” The two looming heads were suddenly over the fence, looking for their fair share of the goodies. The first was a big blonde quarter horse. The true color was Palomino, but I swore there was such a small brain in his head that I just referred to him as the blonde. My hand hid the treat from his view, but his nose was much better than that. His lips forced between my fingers and grabbed the treat, munching away happily before searching for more. “Alright Star, you are way too impatient…” I teased his lip before digging another treat out. A moment later another nose was in my face, looking for his treat as well. “Okay Artie, you know where it is…” I slipped the treat between my teeth and put my hands behind my back. His nose quickly went up to my face and ever so gently pulled the treat from my lips, munching happily as well. Artie was a grey Arabian. His coat was covered in liver-colored speckling, giving him the flea-bitten grey color. 

And both of these boys were old. Well over 24 by now, having gotten them when I was in late high school and keeping them all the way through college and then some. Both were still in great shape and retired pets at this point, but I didn’t mind taking them off of my mother’s hands now. She wasn’t able to care for them as well as I could now thanks to the house I bought.

I looked back to the dogs still running around the yard. Lati was still near the fence, unsure of whether to try to play with the horses or not. But Balla seemed to wander to the other side of the yard and just barely in the tree line. At first I didn’t mind as the 25 acres were mine with no neighbors for a half mile, but she seemed oddly intrigued by something just out of my view. Handing the last treats I carried with me to the horses, I decided to check it out. Lati stayed at my heels as we crossed the large yard, calling out to see if Balla would come back.

“Whatcha find? Hopefully nothing dead…that would be a terrible start to the day.” But as I got closer, I saw nothing out of the norm. She was sniffing and hovering over what just looked like a downed tree. I looked at the foliage on the ground and saw it was a branch and a large one too. I looked back to the maple it still clung to and shook my head. The branch was easily thicker than my leg and looked like it was snapped down from a heavy weight. “Figures, gonna need a chainsaw to bring the rest of that down. I wonder what hit it.” I glanced at the branch, not seeing anything sizable enough to pull such a feat… but then the sun reflected off something under the leaves. A black form was hidden among the greenery, but not enough for me to see. I grabbed a few of the weak branches and pulled it back. The black forms were only a part of a much larger mass I realized, and why I couldn’t see it became clear. Large green-spotted parts were draped over the massive branch camouflaged perfectly by the leaves. Pulling more branches aside I saw the green shell clearly and my mind was already piecing together the image. Seeming too ridiculous to be true I started breaking branches back until I saw the solid proof before me. The arm that hung off the side had a very pale hand with jet black nails at the end of each finger.

I held my breath. Almost panicked. There was no way that this was who it appeared to be, and yet my mind was screaming; I was able to see and practically reach out and touch one of the most powerful beings to exist. Suddenly the dogs poked their noses through, trying to see what I was just discovering and my gut instinct took over.

“STOP! Back up! Back!” I shouted, grabbing both dogs by their scruffs and hauling them out. I went straight back to the house, both dogs clearly confused with the situation but obeying. I was caught between panicking and excitement, but I couldn’t risk the dogs waking someone that could kill them with a flick of a wrist. As soon as I closed the door behind them I went back to the edge of the woods before stopping and taking a deep breath.

‘This is insane if this is really him… If he wakes up, this is the last day I’ll see. I’m sure of it…’ my mind rationalized. I was really going to go back in and chance the entire planet. All of humanity. Gone in a blink of an eye.

“Ya know, just to see that power in full action… I guess it would be worth my last day.” Silently apologizing to the rest of the world, I ran back to the downed branch. Kneeling down I started breaking branch after branch, revealing more proof of his existence. I started to shake with the effort I needed with the larger branches, and yet I kept going, needing to know if this was real or not. The large branch gave way and finally got the most of the leaves out of the way. I sat in shock as it revealed the rest of him facedown on the branch he took out on his way down. The ordeal clearly left him out cold, a fact that actually shocked me. If this is someone capable of taking down armies and fighting with the levels of Goku and Gohan, how did a tree branch take him out? Aside from a bit of dust and scratches on the armor, he seemed fine.

A loud crack made me jump and scream a bit louder than I wanted to admit to, but looking back at the source let me breathe again. The branch hung from the tree still and my efforts moving the branch made it crack away a bit more. I looked back to the unconscious figure, not sure of my next options. Do I try to wake him? Do I leave him until he wakes on his own? Lord knows I would never be able to kill him, not even in this state…

A quiet groan startled me, but this time was justified. I shuffled back a few steps, putting a bit of space between us, but I knew it really didn’t matter. A few hundred miles would be more realistic. A few moments passed with no other sounds, so I took a chance and got closer. Crouching down I pulled a few of the leftover twigs and leaves from his head, finally feeling safe enough to do so. A few more moments passed before I felt myself take a breath, noticing I was taking them a lot more cautiously than normal. I let my nerve and curiosity get the better of my judgement and finally called out quietly, “Hey, can you hear me?”

Nothing. I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing.

“Hey, wake up. Hey!” I kept it quieter than a shout, but still raising my voice hoping to snap him out of it. Do I even dare call him by name?

“Hey, you need to wake up! You can’t be out here!” I attempted to shake the branch he was on, only to find I couldn’t budge it. Not even a shake. I was realizing just how heavy he might have been since the branch barely clung to the trunk. More force was definitely necessary, but how would it pan out if he woke at that moment? I decided to chance it. I wasn’t risking anyone else on the property other than myself. I reached my hand out, balancing myself with my left, about to take the biggest risk of my life. I took another breath. I jerked my hand back again, rethinking it. But then reached out again.

“Geez, just fucking do it!” I finally psyched myself.

My hand shoved down on his shoulder, calling out again, “Hey, are you there!? Come on, wake up!” His body rocked again and I shoved one more time, really not sure if I wanted him to wake or not…

His eyes snapped open and quickly started gasping for breaths, coughing and making small efforts to move. I backpedaled faster than I thought I could move as he woke. The branch creaked and splintered with each small shift, threatening to give way. I stared from my seat, shaking from holding myself up with one arm, the other ready to defend myself if need be. I watched another moment as he struggled, clearly not going anywhere quickly. I finally inched closer, daring to look him in the eye, but he didn’t seem to notice me just yet. Or that he didn’t care, I couldn’t tell which.

“You alright?” I dared to ask. The eye I could see locked with mine as he spoke.

“Where am I?” It was quiet and almost took everything he had to ask. It was nothing like the clean deep voice I was used to hearing on TV. I thought hard before answering in a way that might make some sense.

“Nowhere near the tournament, that’s for sure. You’re not in that world anymore.” The confused look crossed his features for a moment before taking a deeper breath and trying to move again. The effort it was taking to even move his hand was shocking. He hadn’t even tried to lift his head to look around. Finally my voice came back and the millions of questions I had started to surface.

“What happened? How did you end up here?” I didn’t expect an answer right away, but more than several moments passed before I crept a bit closer. There was still foliage that covered a fair portion of him, but I finally got a better look at the armor, the build, and the wings draped over his form.

“You really are him, aren’t you? This isn’t a prank or joke…” I started finding some force in my voice, no longer shaking as much but still ready to bolt out of there. He stayed still, not even trying to answer me. At this point I really wanted an answer.

“Seriously, are you really…Cell!?” I finally choked it out. I hadn’t dared to say it yet fearing it would somehow make him spring up and blow up the world, but nothing happened. He said nothing. I waited a bit, hoping he would at least try to make some conversation, but he was being stubborn. I was losing my patience. If he was able to destroy the world I do believe he would have done it by now. Especially considering the Cell Games weren’t done yet…

That sparked an idea. Perhaps I would get a reaction, maybe not the one I want, but at least he would definitely engage me after this accusation.

“Well I’m sure glad Goku put you in your place!” I announced, standing up to try to assert some sense of control. “Good to know Earth’s hero came through for us after all; he would never let someone like you take this planet for yourself to do God-knows-what with it!”

“How dare you, you insolent human!” he shouted back, though with the angle and lack of breath it seemed more like a ragged gasp. I froze, fearing what I had done was going to be the end of me.

“Your hero…do you know what your ‘hero’ did before… we were interrupted!?” he hissed, his eye narrowing at me with each strained line. I waited, almost certain of what was to follow.

“He gave up! Threw the fight! Left your precious planet’s fate to me! What do you think of your ‘hero’ now, girl!?” Again, it could seem threatening if he were able to get the sentence out without struggling to breathe. I sat back down; suddenly feeling like this was going to be the breakthrough I wanted. I sighed and took one deep breath before retorting.

“I know he gave up. But leaving the planet’s fate to you?” I raised an eyebrow to ensure how insane his claim was. “You really think Goku would just leave the fight without a plan? You can’t really believe that,” I laughed. Only a small chuckle, but still managed to find the humor in the situation. The statement definitely caught him off-guard with that look he gave me.

“How could you possibly know that?” he growled low, but still sounded more curious rather than angry. Pondering his question, I leaned back on my hands and shifted my weight onto my knees.

“Honestly, it would be much easier to explain this whole thing back in the house with my laptop. But you’re not going to like what you might learn from it,” I explained. How was he going to take the fact that the Cell Games, originally designed to determine the fate of humanity in that world, was nothing more than an entertaining show for us? And obviously he would want to know who wins it all…

“Don’t lecture me human, I’m far more advanced in understanding the universe than you could ever hope to achieve.”

“I don’t think even Dr. Gero could predict this outcome,” I smirked at the concept. And hopefully mentioning his creator might make him understand how well informed I may have been. He seemed to let the statement sink in before responding.

“You know more than you’re letting on,” he started. As if I was going to spill all of the years’ worth of manga, animes and movies that had been based off of the world he just got yanked out of; no, I really wanted to know what I was really risking by sharing any info.

“And you won’t hear a word of it if you stay out here. Let me help you up and then we can talk,” I offered casually.

“I will take no help from a human.” He took another deep breath and attempted to lift himself up, but to no avail.

“And you look like you’re getting nowhere fast.” That glare he sent my way actually made me jump a bit.

“I will not repeat myself!” he half-shouted, finally finding a bit more power behind his voice. I shuddered a bit from it as he finally started to reflect more of what he was really like from the series. I waited, not sure how to respond at first, but then stood up and brushed myself off.

“Alright, suit yourself. I’ll drop by tomorrow though, give you a day to think it over,” I mused at my own lightheartedness of the situation. Really, though, the idea that he wouldn’t be here in the morning nagged in the back of my mind. Without giving another moment to reconsider, I stepped back into the yard. I went back to the horses and took out their hay for the day and slipped back into the house. Glancing at the counter I saw my ice cold latte waiting for me. I dumped it out, decided it was a good day for alcohol and spent the rest of the day pulling out my laptop and anime collection.

“Might as well have all the materials ready when he gives in.”

Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback is welcomed and appreciated!


	3. Let's Make a Deal

Chapter 3

Let’s Make a Deal

The sounds of hooves pounding the ground and neighs woke me from a not-so peaceful sleep. I stayed up terribly late going through website after website trying to find scans of the original DBZ manga and several articles regarding the origins and backgrounds of the story and the author. After midnight came and went my eyes forced me to remove the contacts and drag out the gaudy backup frames I kept around. The drinks I had made it tough to stay awake for more than a few hours after that, and last I remembered I set the laptop aside and closed my eyes for a few minutes.

Well, that was almost 8 hours ago. I looked up at the clock to see it was almost noon.

“Good lord, that’s the longest I’ve overslept in years…” I ran my hand through my poor ruffled hair and grabbed the contact case. After switching out the glasses I was being followed by the hungry pups that were clearly distraught over such a late meal. I apologized and gave them a bit more to make up for it. I dared to look out the back window but saw nothing had changed. The barn was still up and there were no smoking craters. Hopefully it was a good sign.

“Guess I should make sure I didn’t just have a weird dream last night over this whole thing. If the world is still here, then maybe it didn’t actually happen,” I laughed aloud. The dogs were back at my feet, ready for the next set of chores they were used to doing. Opening the back door made me a bit nervous, but as soon as they took off and started sniffing around, I relaxed and waited by the door. I waited for them to do their rounds and called them back to the house. “Sorry pups, not taking chances today.” The barn chores were next as I tossed out the hay for the day and filled the water buckets. Satisfied with their meals I locked the gate and turned towards the woods.

“If he’s still there...” I bit my lip. What would I do? What could I do? He would never respond to threats and certainly not force either. He would have to be absolutely desperate to ask for any help. A few ideas played through my mind, but nothing overly realistic, so I headed back to the house. I needed to change out of my pajamas anyway.

Lying on the couch ended up being the only thing to settle my pacing. I still made no progress on trying to go back outside. I couldn’t tell if it was more because of fear or purely being nervous to face him. His power would be truly frightening, but as long as he was grounded, I was more nervous of being in his presence. It almost felt like meeting my favorite celebrity or music band. My thoughts trailed to the image of him draped over the broken branch again, and pit formed in my stomach, trying to figure out how he got into such a state.

“He really looked beaten, but it didn’t look like a defeat in battle.” 

What force really had the power to bring him down? Even his final battle with Gohan was going to be a close fight. And why was he dropped off here? There were so many questions I knew he wouldn’t be able to answer, but I couldn’t help myself from dwelling on so many possibilities. I looked to my laptop again, wondering if I should have even bothered pulling up all of the information I did.

“Well burning daylight won’t get me any answers, and really… I think I should at least try again,” I talked myself into going back out. I stood up, the biggest movement in the past few hours, and stretched my legs, desperately dragging out the inevitable. I went to turn for the back door, but my eyes skimmed the table and caught a glimpse of my cell phone. An idea sparked and I grabbed it on my way out.

It was a warmer day than yesterday, which was welcoming for the middle of May. I was able to go out in jeans and a light tee comfortably with my phone in my back pocket. Making my way to the edge of the woods again I stepped a bit lighter, trying my best to stay quiet. The broken branch still hung from the tree trunk. I held my breath as I stepped around, half expecting him to not be there. But as soon as I saw the flash of green and black armor, I felt my pulse start to soar in first response to my fight-or-flight instinct. I fought it back, determined to get over my nervousness. I stepped closer, glancing him over to see if he had moved much, and figuring he hadn’t, knelt down as close as I dared to the branch. I watched his face carefully, seeing his eyes closed again, and wondered if he was asleep or out cold again.

“You humans are certainly stubborn.” I fell back at the sudden statement, cursing lightly at my lack of bravery. I watched the one eye open again, and decided sitting was a better option.

“Well it is difficult to sleep well with a weapon lying in my backyard,” I muttered. He made no attempts to move this time, but still took careful breaths. The fact he needed to breathe didn’t reflect the cells of Frieza and King Cold in his blood very well. I figured I could bother him about that at a different time. “I won’t force you by any means, but you may want to set that pride aside and just take the help I can offer.” He sneered at the last bit.

“Girl, I can’t even lift myself off of the ground, what help could you possibly offer?” I was getting annoyed with the ‘girl’ name, but I let it slide. Getting snarky wouldn’t gain any ground at this point.

“For a ‘girl’,” I stressed, “I am a bit tougher than I look.” Getting no response from him I continued, “And your power seems to eluding you at the moment.” Silence again. I sighed loudly, finally expressing some frustration. “You are making for very tough conversation here.” The sound he made seemed to be a mix of a cough and a snort, apparently showing his frustration with his predicament now.

“I apologize for not wishing to waste the little breath I have with a lower lifeform.” Now that was a low blow. I couldn’t help my next retort.

“You could give us a sliver of credit; a human did design you.” My eyes seemed to narrow on their own, subconsciously challenging him. His eye seemed to glint back.

“My my, getting braver with your opponent still grounded. I doubt you would be so sharp-tongued if I were suddenly on my feet,” he warned. My mind froze as my eyes widened a bit. I don’t know what the hell came over me at that moment, but I took the challenge.

“Then do it. On your feet, I dare you.” I held my breath. What if he really sandbagged his power and called my terrible bluff? I would have to accept that disaster of a fate…

“Foolish,” he started, and I feared I did just sign my own death warrant, “but good call.” I felt the breath I was holding escape quickly.

“I’ll be honest, you had me going there,” I laughed this time. But the shake in my voice gave me away, “I actually expected you to get up.” I saw his brow rise a bit.

“And if I had?” Now he seemed to humor me a bit more.

“After a few colorful words, it would be a toss-up between saying goodbye to this world or just laughing at my terrible gamble.” The fact that he was continuing this engagement was getting more and more enjoyable rather than making me nervous about whom I was engaging with.

“Not the usual response I get. Almost makes me want to be able to test your prediction,” I saw him grin a bit, and I was torn between thinking it was adorable and the scariest thing I might see in my last moments on the planet.

“And I couldn’t be happier with the fact that you can’t right now,” shaking my head to emphasize that fact, I quickly added, “but this is quite the improvement from yesterday. Sure you still don’t want any help?” That grin faded away faster than I could blink.

“I thought I made that quite clear yesterday.” I shrugged my shoulders with a tilt of my head.

“Can’t hurt to offer.” No snarky remarks this time, but I didn’t want to give up the conversation just yet. “Just going to wait here on the hopes your power returns then?” A small sigh escaped his lips before he took a deeper breath to respond.

“I have waited years for this power; I can be patient for it to come back. Even if it takes years again.” I felt my heart drop at this. How do you argue with that kind of logic? He was technically the closest to biologically immortal to ever exist. Of course he could wait years. Centuries even so long as his body didn’t need a source of energy to operate. Of course, my mind couldn’t help the first images of him laying here through the winter, spring, rain, and other elements beating down on him. I had to laugh.

“And you thought waiting ten days for the tournament was boring.” I saw his eye narrow at me again.

“How do you do that?”

“Pardon?” Did I miss something?

“Don’t feign ignorance girl, you have shown that ability a few times now. You knew of my fight with Goku and you know of Dr. Gero.” Another deep breath, “And I was bored those ten days. Not that I voiced that to anyone…so, how do you know?” I waited, unsure of whether it was worth sharing the knowledge I had yet or not. I wondered if a few taunts would be useful.

“I know a heck of a lot more than that. More things about you too, things you don’t know yet.” His eye closed again with a sigh. “I wasn’t lying about how it would be easier to show you rather than explain. It’s a lot to take in,” I offered.

“You offer information. You offer assistance.” I could practically see the gears turning in his head. He opened his eye again and warily looked me over, “Yet you have not asked anything in return. What are your motives?”

I let my instincts guide me through this one. “I would like to survive our encounter. I would like to ask that of my planet too, if at all possible.” Again he looked contemplative.

“You know who I am and of my purpose.”

“Very much so.”

“Yet you ask this much of me.”

“I didn’t feel it was too much of a stretch.”

The air between us was tense. My breaths slowed and became shallower as I waited for some sort of final response. At the moment, he seemed to weigh out his options. Suddenly his face became stoic.

“You speak as if you have seen several things that have happened and will happen. Do you have some sort of ability?”

“No, this is merely information that is available. And it’s not really common knowledge, only those of us that have taken interest really follow it. There are actually a lot of people around here who would not have known who you were.” I have no idea how I was keeping my composure, but I felt a more professional side of me at work, one who was trying to make a business deal rather than help someone in need.

“This information, is it something I could see myself?” I laughed, entertaining the idea that he must have thought I was a fortune teller or witch.

“Of course it is, and there is plenty of it. There’s no big secret, you just have to know where to look. And there are plenty of items and figures that are pretty neat too…” I started rambling but caught myself before revealing too much.

“Bring me a tangible sample of this information. I would like to be well informed before making a decision.” That did it; my composure started slipping as I broke out into a full-hearted laugh. “What is so funny?” he snapped. I put my hands up in defense.

“Relax, this whole thing feels like you’re worried about it being a contract bound by blood or something,” I smiled. “I promise you are going to do nothing but benefit from this.” He didn’t seem to lighten up much, but at least he didn’t snap back at me.

“Can you provide what I request then?” I brought my hand up to my mouth and bit my knuckle in thought.

“Yes, but what to show you is the bigger question. Honestly the books themselves would be an awesome option…” My hand went to the phone in my pocket, “but I do think this is more than enough.” I turned the volume up to the highest and scooted a little closer. I pulled up the browser and put YouTube in and a list of recent videos I had watched came up. I started flipping through the titles before I felt a bit of a roadblock. What version of the series should I pull up? The original release from so many years ago? Or the recent release, Kai? I needed to know which would be more accurate. I would hate to show him something that didn’t jive with his memory or else it would look like I was deceiving him.

“I have to ask one thing of you before showing you this. But I need you to answer accurately.” He eyed me carefully.

“Go on.”

“Think back to the point where you first obtained this form, just before you went and beat the snot out of Vegeta.” I swear I saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a small smirk before continuing. “Who actually attempted to attack you first?” His response was quick.

“Krillin.” Nothing else after that.

“Just Krillin? No one joined him?” He kept his eye on me with his responses.

“No one else.” Nodding in my understanding, I clicked on a video.

“Kai then. This could be fun.” I paused the clip quickly before turning it to face him. I was still a good three feet away from the branch, not really daring to move closer. “Can you see the image?” He glanced at it before looking at me again.

“What am I watching for?”

“This is a few minute clip of a fight. Tell me if it’s accurate and we can go from there.” I flipped the phone again to hit play before being stopped.

“Come closer. The screen is too small to make such an observation.” I looked back up at him. The look on my face must have given me away something terrible because he ended up chuckling. “What? Are we afraid now?” I swallowed hard at the comment. Afraid? The only reason I wasn’t on the other end of the world at the moment was because he couldn’t stand when he threatened to. Now he was asking me to close the gap between my sense of security and possible death?

“Not afraid, just like to distance myself from potential danger.” There was that glint in his eye again. I was starting to feel like I was being lured into a trap.

“So you don’t fear me?” I shook my head.

“Not really. I fear many things, but mainly things I don’t understand. Once you understand something, fear usually turns into respect.” Those gears seemed to be turning in his head again.

“So you respect me then?” Alright, maybe I can go along with this and see where it went.

“Your power and the potential you have, absolutely. You have earned that right.”

“Then you would respect my wishes to complete this deal.” My eyebrows furrowed a bit at this.

“We made a deal? Funny, I don’t recall agreeing to anything other than showing you this…”

“And with this clip I can decide on our deal, but I need reassurance that this is no trick. Come closer so I can evaluate your claim.” Damn, he had a way with words that left me speechless. I pulled the phone back to my chest, feeling my pulse race.

“How close?”

“As close as you can get.” I felt that knot form again. My throat was tight from the nerves getting to me. My mind and body were screaming ‘NO NO NO!’ but I forced it down. I was absolutely convinced that this was going to be a bad idea. Changing my position to sitting again I turned my body so my back was facing him. I took a few deep breaths, trying to get my pulse down again. “Well?” I was terrified of both keeping him waiting and getting closer, but that one word made me decide. Putting my heels down and closing my eyes, I pushed back across the ground until my back hit the downed branch. I waited, holding my breath and shaking with the sudden realization that I was right freaking next to him.

‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die…’ my mind raced. And raced. Moments passed and I let the breath out slowly, realizing I was still breathing. Opening my eyes, I looked a bit to the right and realized just how close he was. A small smirk greeted me.

“Not bad girl. Didn’t expect you to do it.” I gasped for air for my next breath.

“I still can’t believe I did.” I looked down at my phone, the very reason I was in this situation. I held it out at the angle I would if I were watching a video with a friend next to me. “Close enough?” I breathed out. The response came after another low chuckle.

“As per the agreement.” With that I hit play on the video. It was the fight with him and Trunks right after Vegeta was rescued. I didn’t get 5 seconds in before I heard him gasp aloud.

“A cartoon? That’s definitely me, but with whom else…?” I paused the clip quickly to clear up a few things.

“Careful, this is anime. You could offend an entire country calling it a cartoon,” I laughed. “And yes, it’s you and Trunks in case you don’t recognize him…” and I clicked back on the video again. The clip was a direct cut from the fight and was over in 2 minutes. The scene ended with the line Cell’s VA became famous for, “However, you don’t have a chance of defeating me; not a chance in hell.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“It was…word for word… That was our fight,” he gasped out quickly. I could hear the surprise in his voice. I pulled my phone back to my chest again, finally feeling how badly I was shaking. I quickly scuttled away, really needing to get the distance back again. I was able to breathe again as he stared, still looking stunned from the video.

“Told ya it would be a bit overwhelming.” He took another deep breath again, reminding me again of how helpless he was. The look on his face changed again, going from shock to confusion, then to something else.

“So, it was a video…of an animation of us fighting…” the suspicion in his voice was evident. “It was like a window directly to our world… but on a television screen.” I waited, really hoping he wouldn’t draw so many conclusions from just that little bit. But he continued with a realizing tone. “It was entertainment.”

I could see where this was going. I knew he wouldn’t like it. I warned him.

“We are entertainment. For your world, aren’t we?” It wasn’t much of a question. It was definitely a statement of distaste. His eye locked with mine again. “Are we created? A creation by your world’s design?” My mouth went dry. I looked down to the ground.

“Yeah.” I heard the light scoff from him. It was quiet, but it was there. My throat choked up a bit. “I’m sorry.” It was hard trying to see it from his point of view, but I could understand the disappointment.

“Sorry for showing me that my entire purpose is the side story of a human entertainment show?” he barked in a low tone. I looked back up at him, feeling more upset over the accusation than his reaction to the show.

“No, I’m sorry for showing you at all. You’ve been ripped out of a world, dropped into another one in this condition with no explanation. You didn’t need this information yet.” I rattled that off quicker and a bit sharper than I liked as I twiddled the phone in my hand. “You had more than enough on your plate already.” I stood up, feeling like I said more than I should have. “You can forget the deal if you like. I figure you don’t want to know anything else.” I stepped quickly, making sure I didn’t look back. Getting back in the backyard, I finally felt the dam break and tears started falling. Gritting my teeth kept me from making any sounds, but the tears kept falling, making sure to remind me just how bad my choices were. If I suddenly found out that everything I knew was a creation for someone else to watch and whether I lived or died was merely for someone else to enjoy, would I be so excited to learn more? And I baited him the whole way, telling him he would benefit from the knowledge. I never thought about the other possible consequences that could come from it.

That night was the worst I slept in a long time.

Thank you for your support!


	4. Breaking the Android?

Chapter 4

Breaking the Android?

The next day felt worse than the last. I spent the rest of the night doing anything other than looking up anything related to the show. But my guilt kept reminding me of how clearly upset he was over the realization of his life. His purpose. Reduced to nothing but pure entertainment for the very humans he thought he was created to destroy, only another world away.

“Oh the bitter irony of the truth. Sometimes it feels like the truth just isn’t worth it,” I sighed to myself in the bed. The wagging tails of my bedroom companions was a welcome distraction. “Maybe life would have been better as a dog. Just be happy and go on with life.” I didn’t get as much sleep this time. I kept waking up to a tear and snot-soaked pillow, something that made sleeping very uncomfortable. So I spent a good portion of the night drinking water and trying to drain my sinuses. Eventually they cleared up and I fell asleep, but at the sacrifice of only about 4 hours of real sleep. I didn’t want to oversleep again either, so after a few more belly scratches, the girls and I rolled out of bed.

I was leaning up against the fence gate after the usual chores were done. The dogs were running happily in the backyard again, but I kept tabs on them to keep them from crossing into the trees again. I didn’t need that stress on top of everything else that had happened. The horses munched happily on their breakfast and I tried to focus on that to find a distraction. I was torn between going back and seeing if he was still there or letting him become a distant memory. Another idea formed in my head too, but I quickly dismissed it as well.

‘Hoping that whatever brought him here would take him back would be too good to be true…yet sad that I didn’t really get a good chance to really talk with him…’

Losing myself to my thoughts for a few moments was nice, but my head turned to gaze across the yard and along the trees again. I knew I wanted to go back and try to talk again, but logic just wasn’t having it. The two fought back and forth, so daydreaming about the warm day gave me the break I needed. Perhaps I could take the horses out for a jaunt and make the most of the warm spring day…

A sudden crashing sound echoed from the woods and I looked up and stared, waiting to see a shadow take off from the trees, but nothing else happened. It was so quick the silence filled the air almost immediately. I couldn’t shrug off the feeling I was getting from it since I couldn’t place what the sound was. The dogs started heading that way so I regained my focus and called the dogs back before they could get too close. I ushered them back inside the house and started walking towards the woods again. This time, however, I stopped outside the tree line, trying to give myself distance between myself and the grounded android. I couldn’t see too far in, but I certainly heard what was thrown my way.

“Girl! I know you are out there!” Holy hell I had never felt so many chills run up and down my spine so quickly. I was stuck to the spot, too scared to move a muscle. He called again, and this time I found my voice.

“Yeah, I’m here. And it sounds like you’re off to a good start wrecking the planet…” I have no idea where that came from. I knew I would regret that one later. But he seemed to ignore it.

“Come back here, we have a deal to make.” I couldn’t have heard that right. I stood there, my eyes wide and jaw slack, letting those words sink in. As in the deal that went awry yesterday? I stepped forward, even with my instincts thinking ‘it’s a trap!’, and slowly found myself back by the tree again, but now I realized what the sound was. The branch had snapped completely clean off and had crashed away from the trunk, taking up a bit of dirt as it slammed down. The angle changed and so had Cell’s position on the branch. He looked even more uncomfortable, if that were truly possible at this point. I could see his whole face now as it wasn’t hidden by the branch anymore, but the angle had to be killing his neck.

“I didn’t think we had a deal left to make,” I knelt down on the ground again.

“If you hadn’t stormed off so quickly yesterday we wouldn’t be discussing it now.” I shuffled in my spot, feeling a bit of shame. “No point in dwelling on it; what is done is done. I would rather not wait another night. Shall we agree to our terms?” I bit my lip a bit and took a breath. He was suddenly anxious to look into a world he wasn’t even supposed to know exists? “Do not make me repeat myself, girl.” Oh god, not that again.

“Hold on, I’m still a bit stunned... You certainly didn’t react well to the idea yesterday…”

“You are stalling. Are we in agreement or not?” My face fell and I stared back, giving him an ‘are you kidding’ look before clearing my throat.

“Tell me the terms we agreed on.” His face looked grim for a moment.

“Have you forgotten already? I thought your intellect showed greater promise than that.” So that was what a ‘you’re dumber than you look’ insult done with class sounded like. I couldn’t even be angry; I was downright impressed.

“Not that I disagree with that insult, but there is a reason. I know what I said. I just need to hear it from you.” I heard the sigh before he started.

“In exchange for your information and the assistance to get me out of this predicament, I will not harm you or your planet. Deal?” As much as I wanted to say ‘deal’ and try to figure out how to get him up, I needed to know the details. This seemed too simple to be set in stone.

“For how long?” He was definitely not expecting that kind of response.

“What do you mean, for ‘how long’? It is simple; I will not raise a hand to you or your planet. But I do require as much of this information as possible.” My face contorted with the reminder of yesterday’s events.

“Thought you weren’t thrilled with your…recent discovery.” It took a bit to roll that one out, but he sighed and chose his words carefully.

“At first I was absolutely furious, feeling like my purpose had been belittled to nothing of value, but this world has proven me wrong.” This conversation left me stunned and almost scared to interrupt him. It was the breakthrough of the century.

“How so?” I inquired, hoping to keep him talking.

“Perhaps after the deal is finalized we can discuss this in more detail…” he cut my thoughts short. Damn, I was hoping to hear more. “So? Are we in agreement with the terms?”

“One more question, just humor me…”

“Fair enough.”

“The day your power comes back…then what?” I was almost too scared to ask. A small smirk played at his lips again.

“I recall you saying you didn’t fear me. Has this position changed?”

“Not at all. I don’t fear you. But I am scared half to death of your power.” The situation seemed to play in his mind before finally giving me a response.

“We will cross that bridge when we get to it.” I almost threw my hands to the air. That had to be the biggest copout I have ever heard; keeping his options open. Great.

“Well then do me a small favor when that day comes. Make my death quick.” I was not going to get used to that deep chuckle.

“You’re optimistic.”

“If that’s optimism…” I stopped. I couldn’t believe how much humor I was finding in this conversation. It was as if the most dangerous weapon in the universe wasn’t looking right back at me. “Deal.”

“Interesting. You acknowledge that you might die at the end of this deal and yet still agree to it.” This time it was my turn to laugh.

“The fact that you didn’t say ‘will die’ totally made this deal worth it.” I shifted my weight back so my legs weren’t straining. “Now, how do we get you out of here…?” He cut me off before I could start.

“Actually I too have a question.”

“Go for it.”

“What is your name? I do believe it would be rude to go another day referring to you as ‘girl’.” I let a smile break out across my face.

“It’s Erika. And thanks, that was getting old.” I looked him over one last time before deciding it was better to plan out a way to get him up. “And I owe you an apology. For both running out and being way too excited…”

“Not necessary, and… ‘excited’?” I tensed up, not sure about revealing too much so soon. Especially since he was still stuck out here; he was probably sick of being stuck in that position for a few days. I decided a little confession would be enough for now.

“I was definitely scared at first, but realizing a show I watched as a kid was a real world… Had it been anyone else back here, like Trunks or Goku, I would have been just as eager to show them a video of themselves too. Course, I don’t know how they would’ve reacted to it either.” Shaking my head, I got back on subject, “Now, what is keeping you grounded? I can understand not being able to fly without energy, but not even able to stand?”

“It should not be this way. Even without my abilities or power, I should still have strength beyond that of a human. It so happens to be a part of my design is what has left me unable to move, much to my dismay…” he took another deep breath again, something that made me remember something that bothered me the other day. But I waited on that question for the moment. “My armor, flawless and impervious as it may be, seems to outweigh my current capabilities.” I stared for a moment. Outweigh? As in literally being too heavy to move? I was dumbfounded for a moment before poking around.

“How heavy are we talking? Pounds? Tons?” The ‘tons’ was just a joke, but the look on his face was clearly serious.

“If my estimations are correct, about 500 kilos.” I hung my head for a moment before admitting my ignorance.

“My apologies but this is America. We are so ignorantly proud that we have our own metric system…” I gave him a halfhearted grin, “what’s that in pounds?”

“About 1,102.” I felt my mouth fall open.

“Oh my god that’s more than what my horse weighs…” I caught the flash of disappointment in his eyes but didn’t stop myself, “What the hell is that stuff made of? Compressed lead? I get that it stood up to an entire army, but damn…” He made a ‘tsh’ sound with his teeth in distaste.

“The military attack was nothing for this armor. It was barely considered a test. The real test was Vegeta’s attack.” My gaze lowered to his a bit more.

“Which it did _not_ stand up to,” I rolled my eyes, emphasizing the ‘not’. Oh, that look in his eyes could have put me to my knees if I wasn’t already kneeling down.

“My my, nothing seems to get by you, does it?” I heard the sarcasm, and couldn’t help but shake my head.

“Oh don’t be snarky. Seriously, there is NO way I can lift you…I need ideas!” Poor Cell; here am I trying to offer help and now I was asking him to help me. Way to hold up my end of the bargain. I stood up, looking over the fallen branch. The angle had shifted more of his body to the ground rather than balancing on the branch. He must have hit the ground pretty hard when it gave way.

‘That’s probably the sound I heard earlier. Not the branch but when he had slammed into the ground…’ I circled around the branch, seeing how he was angled from the other side and groaned to myself. The branches that still stuck out were either mangled beneath him or stuck out in a few places; those would have to go if I planned to get him out of there. I got closer to look him over a bit more; this was the first time seeing the back of the armor. The sleek wings were splayed out a bit off to his sides. Apparently they were as heavy as the rest of the armor on his body. I took note of his legs partially ground into the dirt, mostly at the knees. Knowing he couldn’t move was reassuring enough for me to kneel closer and try to figure out a way to either move him or do something about his armor.

Besides, when else was I going to be able to ogle this body so easily? I grinned a bit to myself for that one; if he knew how much I admired his figure I would definitely be hearing about it. My eyes went to the black calves and eyed them a little longer than I should have. Damn they were long… He was going to tower over me if we ever get him on his feet.

I noticed the dirt under the black shins was a bit muddy. Stooping closer I pushed some of the dirt away only to find my hand hit something much harder than dirt. I realized it was a large stone hidden under his leg, but that was not my biggest concern. Pulling my hand back I realized it wasn’t wet from water, but slick green goo.

“Eeech!!” I reeled back a bit and tried to keep quiet, but unfortunately he didn’t miss anything.

“Did you find anything useful?” I kept staring at my hand, hoping it wouldn’t melt my skin off or anything. I wiped the stuff off on my jeans and crouched down a bit lower to his leg.

“Yeah, I think I did…” I ran my hand along the black shell, hoping what I thought was true. As soon as I hit a sharp edge, I pulled my hand back and felt the excitement in my voice. “The armor is cracked down here. You hit a pretty good sized stone on your way down.”

“Cracked?!” Oh I bet he was surprised. In all honesty I was too, but I saw it as a glimmer of hope. He was probably pissed to know his armor was not only too heavy to be useful, but also way too fragile for combat. I looked around, seeing a handful of stones buried with the larger one. I shuffled through until I found a larger one with a sharp point. “Wait, are you planning something?!” I got as much of the dirt off of the point as I could before getting a good grip on it. First though, I pressed down on the cracked part of the shin guard.

“Before I do anything, does this hurt?”

I felt him try to move again, but it barely moved his body enough to matter. “No, but why are you asking? Tell me what you’re going to do!” Grounding my heels into the ground, I pulled my arm back with the stone and braced myself.

“Getting this damn armor out of the way!” I brought the stone across the black armor, getting as close to the crack as possible. I didn’t feel anything at first, but when I put pressure on it with my other hand right after, I felt a huge shift and the crack went up and around his calf. Without hesitating I brought the stone down hard on the crack and the entire thing split open, first seeing the green goo run out from the cracks, but a few moments later the entire shell shattered and turned to a powder to the ground, revealing the bright pale skin underneath. I stared at the fact that not only had it shattered so easily, but was fairly easy to break with a stone. I looked up at the rest of the armor and nearly laughed out loud. “Oh that has got to be the worst news you’ve gotten yet!” Suddenly his leg moved a tiny bit. I could see his foot at the end, still grounded a bit into the dirt, but the yellow boot was distinctive enough. His movements were still limited.

“What did you do?” He called out a bit shakily. “How did it come off so easily!?” His shock was mixed with a bit of fear for sure, but I was beyond excited. I pushed the branch out of my way and got up next to his arm that was draped over the main branch. I grabbed hold of it and stretched it over the length of the branch.

“Don’t ask why, just be happy you’re nearly out of the woods,” I grinned. I only caught his eyes widening a bit as I turned him arm over a bit, feeling the resistance from the ridiculous weight, and lined up the stone a few inches up on his wrist. Bracing my feet again, I brought the point down hard and felt the armor give way, cracking up the length up his forearm. Again, the green goo drained out from the cracks, and moments later the entire arm shattered into fragments, then down again into a fine powder, green instead of black this time.

“Surely this must be a joke! It shatters under the pressure of a stone wielded by a girl!” His teeth were bared and he blinked his eyes several times, processing what was happening to his perfect body. I couldn’t help how entertained I was by this mix of reactions I was getting now.

“Hey, I told you I was tougher than I looked, didn’t I?” I laughed, but his face fell a bit and his jaw relaxed.

“Yes, I suppose you did. Are you hiding any type of power I should be aware of?” he asked quietly, almost like he feared his armor wasn’t weak, but I was actually strong. I shook my head ‘no’ and held up the sharp stone.

“I’m going to say this is all luck and trust physics on this one. Apparently I can get enough pressure behind this sharp point and it’s enough to get through. And it’s just a guess…Observable, but still a guess.”

With that I continued up his arm, taking out the bicep next. Unsure of the black-shelled armor on his shoulders and chest I decided to take out the other arm next. As the pieces disintegrated, he took a moment to move one arm a bit, flexing his hand and forearm. The sigh that he gave was definitely one of relief. Other than that, he stayed pretty quiet as I climbed back over the branch to level my arm with his back. Looking over the wings, I decided to try to hit those closer to the top where they connected. It took a few more hits, but sure enough, the entire wing cracked, leaked out whatever the liquid was, and shattered moments later.

The time went by quickly as I picked off the armor, piece by piece, until his back was exposed and only left his tail. Thankfully hitting the armor from the back cracked all the way around his chest, so majority of the weight was now taken off of him and he took several easy breaths. I sat down for a moment, catching my breath and shaking out my arm after slamming the rock down so much. I noticed he was breathing at a steady pace and decided it was a good time to poke for answers.

“I thought Frieza’s and King Cold’s blood made it so you didn’t need to breathe?” His brows rose up a bit from my sudden question.

“Not necessarily. Do you understand the concepts of aerobic and anaerobic function?” I nodded quickly, my studies from exercise physiology surfacing after being buried for several years. “My cellular structure will reflect the environment I am exposed to, giving me adaptability in all circumstances. So while in space, yes, their DNA takes priority.”

“But grounded down here you had to use the oxygen around you. Bugger, it really didn’t help you in this situation at all.” His lips twitched in irritation.

“Without my power neither situation was ideal. Why are you so curious?” His tone had changed for sure. He wasn’t gasping for breaths now, so his speech has smoothed out to a more accented tone. Not that I was complaining; it was addicting to listen to.

“This is the tip of the iceberg for me. There are a ton of misconceptions and poorly translated ideas out there, and I hate to pass up the chance for living proof,” I motioned to him with a head nod. Picking the stone up I had been using, I pointed up to his head crest. “Should I knock that out too? Your neck would probably be thankful…” He eyed my enthusiasm warily.

“Why do I get the notion you’re all too excited about this?” Of course I was excited! I just had more questions about his anatomy answered in these past ten minutes than Reddit could ever blog about.

“Look at it this way; it means fewer questions I’ll be bothering you with. Course, you won’t understand any of this until I show you more so, be patient.” I moved to his other side and looked over at the branch holding up the side of his head. Bringing up my hand I leveled the stone just above the ridge of the shell. I steadied my arm and took a few more steady breaths. His gaze went up to my arm holding the stone.

“Don’t miss.” It wasn’t sarcasm or a taunt. I wondered if I could actually hurt him if I didn’t hit quite right. I pulled my arm back, bit my lip, and quickly cracked the point into the ridge. Again, the crack splintered up both of the pointed crests and the liquid flowed out, and then the entire piece shattered in a collapsing fashion, forcing him to close his eyes as the powder showered down. The next shock was when the yellow jawline also went with the rest of the helm and disintegrated. A moment later, the purple lining the sides of his face also dusted off. But that wasn’t the biggest shock yet.

The sight that met my eyes literally dragged my breath out of me. The pale skin underneath was smooth and fine without the armor, but the short jet black hair that seemed to appear from under the powder was what caught me off-guard. I stared at the practically human-like android now, even sporting ears where the yellow frame used to be. No words formed in my mouth, but my mind was being blown away, ‘He is gorgeous!’

“Did that answer any more questions?” He shifted his head, finally able to move freely and bits of the armor were shaken out of his hair. I continued to stare, but found my voice trying to make its way back.

“Yeah. Wow.” So this was what it felt like to sound like an idiot around a celebrity. A nervous laugh made its way up, “I guess I didn’t know what to expect.” I held my tongue so I didn’t give away any more than I needed to. Not only was it something I didn’t expect, but he looked so close to human now he could almost pass off being in public if there was a need for it. And I would have to take a baseball bat to keep the women off of him too…

“Are you going to keep staring or do you have a plan?” I jerked my head back and mentally slapped myself for the observation. I really needed to quit giving myself away or he would catch on and then I would be too embarrassed to ever face him again. I straightened myself up and looked back to his legs. The other leg still had the black shin guard on it and I didn’t want to break off more than what was necessary.

“I’m taking out one last piece then we will try to get you up. Majority of the weight should be gone, right?” I watched as he pulled up his arms to his sides, looking like he was going to attempt to move on his own, but his arms started shaking as soon as he put weight on them and I realized there was no way he was getting up on his own. I put a hand on his shoulder and pushed back down. “Don’t bother; you’re shaking too badly to sit up much less stand…” I went to the other leg and smashed off the armor. As soon as the powder fell I went back over the branch and faced him.

“I have NEVER felt this helpless before…” he hissed, more so at himself than at me, “I cannot believe I will be in need of any assistance, let alone from a human.” I finally dropped the stone on the ground and shook my arm out again.

“And I’m the only one that will ever know this happened, so you can shrug off your pride, let me help you, and when you’ve recovered it will be like this never happened.” I smiled at the idea of having such a damaging secret about him, but I would not use it. I would never stoop to such a level. If he kept his end of our deal I had no quarrels with keeping one secret.

“You would keep this entire ordeal to yourself?” His face gave away how untrusting he was about it.

“It goes with me to my grave.” He turned away, and I couldn’t read if it was out of shame or distrust, but I let it go. “You’ll see, I’m pretty trustworthy, but we need to see if we can get you on your feet. I won’t let you stay out here another night if I can help it.” I looked at the branch under his chest and figured there was no way to get under him and push him up. Even without the armor, muscle was still very heavy and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was around 300 lbs, not beyond my ability but not easy to lift either. Instead I went to his side. “I’m going to try to roll you to your back and see if I can pull you up from there…”

“You are getting in way over your head, Erika. What do you top out at, 100 lbs at most? What makes you think you could lift me?” I gasped at first, mostly from how nicely my name rolled off of his tongue, but then realized the unintentional compliment. I started laughing and didn’t really have a good comeback right away. But I regained my composure and sat on the branch so I could face him better.

“I’m 120 thank you very much. And I have quite a few years of weight training and farm chores under my belt. So I will know very quickly if you are too much for me to handle.” Of course all of the weight training was back in high school and all of college, but I took pride in the fact that I could still bench press 100 lbs on a standard day. I heard him chuckle again as I knelt down at his side.

“Well then by all means, prove me wrong.” I pulled my elbows to my sides and ground my heels into the dirt and put my weight behind the first shove. He rocked a bit more than I expected at first, but when he went to steady himself with his hand he ended up shaking too much and rolled back onto the branch. “Damn it…damn this weakened body…” he groaned loudly, still not seeing any improvement with his strength. I took a deeper breath and braced myself again.

“No don’t give up yet, I’m still trying,” and I shoved him again, and this time I put enough behind it to roll him over to his back, getting majority of his body off of the branches and on the ground. The branch was still cradled under his neck, but otherwise out of the way. I reached down to take his wrist in both of my hands, seeing how it took both to circle his wrist, and braced my foot against part of the downed branch as I pulled him up. As soon as I pulled him up, I knelt down and braced him enough to let him sit up on his own. He swayed a bit, but then looked down to me.

“Alright, maybe I could give you more credit. But this is still far from carrying me out of here.” I kept my body firm to keep him steady, but relaxed a bit more as he stayed up on his own.

“I think I know how to get you up, but we need to shift you to your knees. Here, I’ll keep you from falling,” he leaned a bit on me as his legs shifted to his side, then his weight nearly collapsed me as he tried pushing himself back, but I threw my weight back and suddenly he was kneeling. I wanted to cheer just from that little bit, but I knew the hardest part was still coming. Turning my back against him I pulled his arm over my shoulder and put one knee down while bracing my other foot. “Ready? You’ll need to give me everything you have…”

“When I say, lift me up as best you can, and I’ll try to get my footing,” he took a breath and I centered my balance, “and go…” With that I breathed out hard and long, putting his entire weight on my shoulders and pushing upward. I felt him shift and he pulled one leg up and took a bit of the weight off of me. With a few more breaths, he was on his feet and I stepped forward, deciding momentum was the best way to keep him up. Sure enough he stepped with me, cautiously, over the downed branches and on the path out. Once we were out of the woods and on the grass, his steps were focused and not as shaky, but I kept the arm over my shoulder, just in case. The walk to the house was long, but once we were inside I headed straight to the main room and literally dumped him on the couch. I hit the floor, shaking and catching my breath, and he slumped to his side on the long couch. He took the entire length of the couch and lied back, taking the chance to recover. Moments passed as I sat on the floor, arms over my bent legs and shoulders heaving, waiting for my breath to steady again. I watched as Cell closed his eyes, finally relaxing his body a bit and letting his breath return to normal.

“Better?” my breath barely got the word out, and he only nodded in return. “Maybe we can look into everything tomorrow; you could use a night to recover.” I didn’t hear anything, but I assumed it was for the best for now, and getting back up I ventured to the back of the house where the dogs were kept in the back room. Letting them back outside, I headed out with them to see the sun starting to set.

So I now had a dangerous bio-weapon laying on my couch in the other room, sleeping. I didn’t dare think about how my day was going to start tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Feedback is always welcome!


	5. Honesty is Best Policy

Chapter 5

Honesty is Best Policy

The rest of the evening was quiet. I spent the time outside, enjoying the company of the dogs and even having a very late dinner with them. When it was too dark to enjoy the scenery, we slipped back in for the night, watching the dogs carefully though as to not disturb the still sleeping android.

I passed by the entryway between the rooms and looked in just to make sure he wasn’t awake. Assuming he wasn’t, I made for the bedroom and closed the doors to keep the overly excited dogs inside. I didn’t fear them trying to hurt him; in all honesty the worst they would do is lick him to death. While a funny scene it may have been, I wasn’t willing to risk it. I looked over to my phone and grabbed it, shot off a few text messages, then crawled into the bed with my laptop. I ended up searching for a few things online and made a few last-minute purchases. Satisfied with what all I found, I hopped back out of the bed and figured a quick shower would get the grime from the woods off of me. Well, that and the green goo that seemed to get on my arms earlier. I still couldn’t figure out what that stuff was, but I figured it had something to do with why the armor was so heavy.

The bathroom attached to my bedroom was a wonderful reminder of why I had this house built; a main bath for guests and my own to get away from the world with. The dogs settled on the bed as I ditched the clothes for my pajamas and hopped into the shower. The next ten minutes were like heaven for my body. I leaned my head back and breathed in the hot steam, enjoying the pressure on my shoulders and back since they still strained a bit from earlier. The fact that I was able to put that kind of weight on my body was good to know; I hadn’t lost my touch in fitness yet. But that reminder of having someone so dangerous on my back suddenly sent chills through me. What the hell was I thinking? We did make an agreement, so in theory if he was suddenly 100 percent better tomorrow I shouldn’t die…

…right?

I needed to stop worrying. I needed to put some faith in his word. If I didn’t give him a reason to kill me, he wouldn’t.

I hope.

I was torn. Trust the most dangerous weapon in the world, or pack up the animals and run for the hills.

‘Like that would matter. A million miles away would not keep me safe.’ I stifled a laugh, finally giving in to the idea that if he really didn’t like this world, there was not enough distance, time, or weapons that could stop him. And he knows that.

The water kept raining down on me, keeping my focus on the heat it pushed on my back and relished in it one more time before shutting it off. It was late enough and I expected tomorrow to be full of surprises. I just didn’t know what kind.

The dogs were up before I was the next morning, tails wagging and noses sniffing at my face. I reached for my phone, read the text I got and got out of bed. I grabbed my contact case and popped them in, letting my world come back into focus. Heading down the hallway they followed at my heels like always, but this time I pushed them out the door, hoping they could entertain themselves so I could check on my ‘guest’. I closed the door and turned to head the rest of the way down the hall, but found myself hesitating.

‘Oh come on, he’s already in the house; it’s not like you can avoid him now,’ I had to rationalize with myself. My mind wandered to the idea that he was still on the couch, still recovering, with only the little bit of his armor left on his legs and hips. ‘That could be a bit distracting…’ But how do you bring up a conversation like that? The exchange flickered through my head, and I had to keep from laughing aloud at the idea that he might not understand why I would offer clothes. Not that I had anything to offer just yet. Not until later this afternoon.

I reached the end of the hallway and was just about to round the corner until I stopped dead in my tracks as Cell suddenly stepped around and I nearly face planted into his chest. I stepped back quickly, taking in the full view by accident and felt my face flush red and I turned away, covering my face and swearing up a storm.

“Son of a fucking…dammit,” I muffled the shout into my hands, totally disregarding who I was yelling at. It was quiet for only a moment; probably entertained with my reaction.

“Humans and your modesty… Good morning to you as well.” So that was how my morning was going to start. Unbelievable. I refused to turn around, but I did take my hands off of my face.

“Sleep well I take it then?” I asked a bit snarkier than I probably should have but for the moment I was still both angry and flustered. Seriously it was a great body and all, but no way was I going to admit to that anytime soon.

“I do not require sleep, but a night without the weight of my armor let my body recover and has enabled me to be more mobile, apparently much to your disappointment…” That tone in his voice made it _very _clear he was enjoying my discomfort. So, just to defy him, I turned around and crossed my arms, but kept my eyes locked with his brilliant pink ones. This was my first time actually getting a good look at his eyes since the past days were either hidden by a branch or half-lidded in exhaustion. They were bright and alert today.

“Good to hear. And while you have every right to flaunt your perfection, a fair warning would have been nice.” Sarcasm laced those words like icing on cake. His grin returned and a small nudge from one eyebrow acknowledged the statement.

“Careful, I may take that seriously. How long would you hold your resolve then?” I knew I would not win that battle of wits. I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists all in a desperate attempt to hold my tongue.

‘Don’t dare him, you would regret that immediately.’ So I turned to the cupboard and dragged out a mug for my morning latte instead of making a retort. “Care for anything to drink? I only carry lattes and teas if you are interested.”

“I have no need for sustenance, and that was a terrible redirection of the conversation. Would you care to try that one again?” I shrugged my shoulders and hit the button to prep the machine, and knowing I was stuck there for a few more moments I decided to engage the conversation.

“Actually I already had a plan made, but you seem to be too impatient to wait for it to come full circle…My younger brother will be stopping by later. I asked him if I could borrow a bit of his closet until further notice. But he won’t be here for a couple more hours.” The liquid poured into the cup and I went to the fridge for ice cubes to drop in it. I managed to keep my focus away from him and only on my drink.

“And what gave you the notion that I would want to use human garments?” I was starting to get a kick out his choices for words. It was eloquent and the accent was fun to listen to, but his testing of my patience was a little more than a nuisance. Taking my mug and having my first satisfying sip, I turned back to him, eyes locked on his of course.

“I would never ask you to pretend to be human, but I would like to ask of some decency while you stay under my roof.” I kept my face stern and serious, but kept my tone polite. If he moved an inch or attempted to approach me my nerve would be lost both from the fact that he was that much stronger than me and that I might see more than I bargained for. He stared back for a moment, but then he turned back away from me and headed back into the main room. I managed to look away before seeing too much more. I was not ready for that view yet either.

“While I would rather have my armor for both the coverage and protection it appears I will need to accept the offering. Also I took the liberty of borrowing your bath to remove the last bits of armor. I do hope you don’t mind,” he casually explained from the other room. I stood in the entryway with my mug, keeping my vision to the wall rather than to the couch where he sat.

“Borrowing the shower was never the issue...” I laughed at my mocking tone, but quickly added, “But thank you for not getting that green stuff everywhere. What exactly was it, anyway?” I really hoped it wouldn’t be a sarcastic answer since I wasn’t really showing the same courtesy.

“It is necessary for regenerating my armor back if it is broken. The Namekian blood regenerates my limbs, but the armor isn’t technically part of my body anymore, so it needs its own regenerative cells.” I hoped that answered whether it was dangerous or not since I still had an aching fear it may have been some sort of toxic poison I had on my hands. I sipped at my latte somehow feeling less and less worried about his presence in the house. I started to accept the fact that he had given his word on the deal and that it could be trusted.

“I’ll be heading out back, is there anything else you might need? I don’t plan to come back in until after my brother stops by,” I finished my drink and set it on the counter.

“Unless you know the secret to get my power back, no.” The sarcastic tone carried between the rooms and I rolled my eyes as I headed toward my bedroom, still needing to prepare for the rest of the day.

The sun was high in the sky when I stepped out back, greeted by wagging tails and hungry stomachs. It was nice out for the moment but rain was predicted later that afternoon. ‘Guess I got him out of the woods in time,’ I realized how lucky the past three days were. After the dogs were fed I went to the paddock and through the barn door. Grabbing a few things I headed out and took the horses to another fenced field to put them through their paces.

An hour passed quickly and I looked out to the dirt road to see a black car coming up at a quick pace. I took the rope off of Artie and led him back to the main paddock. “I guess we’re done today boys,” I handed them their treats before locking up the gate. The dogs ran ahead of me around the side of the house to greet the car pulling in. I walked up as the door opened and the tall kid stepped out. I wrapped my arms around him in a close hug after chasing the dogs off of him.

“Hey Zack, thanks for coming out.” He hugged back tightly before going to the back of the car and hauling out a huge duffel bag.

“Hey, no problem. I dug out a ton of stuff to pick from, so hopefully there’s selection for a few days.” He smiled and laughed as I took the bag.

“I knew I could count on your closet. I promise this is really temporary and he won’t be going very far, so your clothes are staying here. Hopefully there’s nothing here you can’t live without…” He waived a hand at the bag.

“Nah, it’s mostly oversized sweats and workout clothes I haven’t worn much and a lot of shirts I haven’t even gotten to yet. I’ve bought way too many clothes, so I’m glad they have a use finally.” He went to walk towards the house, but I stopped him.

“If you wanna stick around we need to stay outside. He’s not exactly social…” Zack gave me a weird look.

“Is this an old ex or something?” I dismissed the idea with a goofy look.

“Psh, I’m not that forgiving. But I do know him; he’s just not from around here. I might be able to tell the whole story someday if he leaves soon enough.” He shrugged, taking the story for face-value.

“Alright. I was sent with a message too. Don and Karen miss you and would like to know when you’re coming for dinner again.” I got excited for that idea.

“Hopefully soon, and tell them I’ll be bringing the mongrels with me too. I’m sure they miss them too.” Suddenly Zack got a bright look on his face.

“Oh, I have news about that too. They got the tests done for Gogo, so they’re picking a male to breed with this week!” My heart jumped as the news hit.

“You’re gonna get your puppy!!”

“Hopefully! Fingers crossed for this one!” This was big news for us since I had Lati, who was from the first litter born at their kennel, and this litter would make for their second, so having one of those puppies in the family was exciting for all of us.

“I will be there they day they are born, count on it.” And with that, he gave me another hug and hopped back in the car.

“We will try to get another day to hang then; it’s been a while. We need to hit up a mall and food sometime.” I closed his door for him and chat through the open window.

“I’d like to. I guess I could go spend some of the money I have now…” He gave me a sad look before speaking.

“You are doing alright, then? Dad worries about you,” his voice cracked a bit.

“Tell him I’m alright. I’m not in over my head yet. Hopefully you two have been good.” He nodded quickly.

“Yes. Getting better, but good.” I tapped the hood of the car as he started it up.

“Glad to hear it. Thanks again!” He waived and I responded in kind as he backed out. Once he was on his way I turned up to the sky to see the dark clouds starting to loom in the distance. The winds had picked up and I could feel the rain coming in the air. I took a deep breath, waiting for my throat to stop choking up and fought back the quivering in my gut. “Two years apparently isn’t enough.” I looked back to the dogs playing on the porch and headed through the garage door. I took them back to the bedroom and grabbed my laptop, then closed the dogs in so we wouldn’t be interrupted.

Back at the entryway between the rooms I slumped the bag to the floor and looked up to the couch where Cell sat, arms crossed and glanced up at me, then down to the bag. Balancing the laptop in my arm I made it clear we were getting nowhere until he was presentable. I turned away when he stood up, and I heard the rustle of him going through the bag. These quiet moments were always tense for me since I was typically a chatterbox, but I did not want to give him a terrible impression of humans in this world. Even though he gave his word not to bother this planet, I would hate to give him a reason to either.

“Is this suitable?” I looked up and looked him over and held back a giggle. The grey sweat pants he dug out were almost a good fit, if not a tad short, but the black top was too tight at the chest. I guess I forgot to mention that while Zack was tall, he was also lean, which meant tops were going to be way too small. I only looked a tad longer, letting my eyes skim over his toned arms, but stopped myself before I started to give too much away again.

‘Might need to find a bigger sweater for him so I could keep myself from staring too much…’ I mused. “Zack is nearly your height, but I guess a couple sizes smaller too... It works for now.” I slipped around him and hopped on the huge sectional, flipped up the laptop and motioned for him to sit. As soon as he was comfortable I pulled up the first of the tabs I had opened and flipped the screen around. He looked down, reading the first lines aloud.

“_Dragon Ball Z,_[,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Installing_Japanese_character_sets) commonly abbreviated as _DBZ_, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation,” I watched his eyes as they swiftly scanned through the first paragraph, “Manga series? So this started from a book?” I pulled the laptop sideways so I could pull up another tab.

“Yeah, mangas are Japan’s version of a comic book.” Clicking up the first tab I scrolled down. “Here, this is a site where you can read the series… it takes forever to go through, but if you want to see what happens, this is where you’ll want to go.” He clicked through a few times, I assumed a few pages, before looking back up at me.

“Our entire world was started by books for entertainment, and then turned into a television show.” I frowned for a moment, letting that mull over in my head.

“It looks that way… but maybe not. Your world may have already existed and we just happen to write a story about it,” I gave a small smile, really hoping that it wasn’t as sad as it sounded. I could not read his face or body language. He was still, stone-faced, staring at the screen but his eyes continues to scan through. I leaned back and brought my legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch, unsure of what to say. There was no real way to smooth it over; he was in a world that we would consider the real world and he came from the one that looked like nothing more than a fairytale. Comforting words would be nothing to him. The silence was nearly killing me, and I tried to keep it to myself, but gathering up a small amount of courage I finally broke it.

“How did you get brought here? Do you remember?” I looked over, a bit nervous to make any sort of eye contact, but he never looked up from the screen. He stayed quiet, then blinked slowly and shook his head slightly.

“It’s not much. I’ve gathered more from just being in this world than I did in those few seconds.” Confusion and doubt crossed his features for just a second, but he regained his composure. “It was a type of energy I had never felt before. Not the same we use to fight with; it felt empty, like a void. It surrounded me right when Goku surrendered, and by the time I realized I was trapped it collapsed around me. Next I knew I was dropped here.” He stopped suddenly, thinking something through before he said it. “Wherever ‘here’ is.” I found myself wanting to get back in the conversation.

“I would look at it as another world. You don’t seem to be in a hurry to figure out the details right now.” He finally took his eyes off of the screen and looked back up at me.

“Perhaps it’s just semantics at this point. Does anything like this come up in these books or the entertainment show?” I shook my head.

“No, but there are games that toy with some ideas, especially recently, but nothing quite like this. This is new for me.” He inhaled sharply and caught me off guard with his next question.

“Games?” I probably should have seen that coming too, but I didn’t have any of that information up since I only played a few of them.

“The games are easy to look up too, but they are also based on the manga and the show, so there aren’t many differences. I wanted to start from the beginning. Then the other stuff can make sense if you know where it all comes from…” The pressure of his presence was making my pulse race a lot more than I was used to. His focus went back to the laptop. “How much do you plan to look through? Going to see what happens?”

“Something tells me I won’t need to.” I stared, unsure of the statement.

“What?”

He sighed, and I started to see the reluctance in responding. “This little I’ve read has already let me make so many conclusions so quickly…” His hand skimmed over the laptop, turning it back toward me. I looked down at the laptop and saw the wiki page had been scrolled down quite a bit.

“You got through that much that quickly?” He gave me a quick nod.

“And from that I can see where this is going. The story follows Goku, from his childhood through his adult life and all of the challengers he faces…myself included. And there appears to be more.” His voice changed, slowly going from a knowing confidence, to something darker… I could almost see it coming. “I am not the last fight he engages in, which means his life continues after the tournament.” I bit my tongue; he almost had that right…

“Somehow I am defeated, otherwise this story would have to end, which it clearly doesn’t.” I couldn’t tell if he was angry, shamed, or outright upset, but he straightened up a bit a locked his eyes with mine. “Am I correct?” I couldn’t help the half smile that slipped through.

“Well, almost. There are so many other details that go along with it…” He scoffed and looked away. “You could look and see how it happens, but I doubt it would change the end result.”

“Why would I want to see my own demise?” he barked, and I felt myself jump back several inches out of shock. “Even though I am the perfect warrior, with the most perfected power, somehow they manage a miracle and defeat me. I have no need to see the stunt Goku pulls this time…” I couldn’t take it anymore; I felt that detail needed to be known, else he was going to be furious that he thought the games were pointless.

“Goku doesn’t kill you. In fact you manage to kill him.” He stopped and stared, definitely caught off-guard from that fact.

“That conflicts with what I’ve just read.” I felt my body shake under his gaze. Was I really ready to just spill how it all ends? I really hoped he would read it for himself.

“That was a summary, not the details of what happens. Yes technically Goku does go on to save the world again after you, but he is not the reason you are defeated. Now are you going to look into this and see for yourself?” His gaze went back to the laptop.

“Will the information be accurate?” I shrugged my shoulders.

“I don’t know. Unless I know exactly how things have gone up to this point, I’m only assuming this is following the manga better than the anime.” He sat there and I dare say he looked like he was sulking with his arms crossed and head bent down a bit. Another moment passed before he reached out a bit for the laptop, but I quickly put my hand on it first, stopping him for a moment.

“If you’re willing to wait a couple of days, you won’t need to navigate on the laptop. The manga is on its way here.” His hand stayed up, inches from the laptop, and I could see the brooding in his eyes. Then something seemed to click and he drew his hand back.

“You obtained them? For what reason if they are available here?” he motioned to the laptop again, but I shook my head.

“Oh I’ve been meaning to own them; it’s a work of art to go through. Also, you’re not subjected to the rough translations on the websites… And you can read through them without stealing my laptop.” His focus seemed to stay on me rather than the laptop.

“Why are you showing me this?”

I shrugged as I clicked through a few tabs. “I want to.” He didn’t seem to take that answer outright even though it was the only answer I was going to give him.

“Even though showing me how I can avoid my own death could change the course of that world?” His gaze started to feel heavy, but I had my counter ready. I was prepared for this conversation.

“Like I said, even knowing how it ends may not change anything. You will probably still die.” He didn’t let up.

“What makes you so certain? If I can see where I go wrong I could correct it.” I grinned, ready for this one too.

“I’d bet the world you wouldn’t be able to.” The smirk he sent back sent chills down my back.

“Oh really? Please, do tell.” I cracked my knuckles; this was going to be fun. I’ve dreamed of this conversation for years.

“Sure you wanna do this? I might scare you,” I laughed. His eyes lit up at the challenge.

“Please, Miss Erika, do your worst.” I held my breath for a second. He has NO idea what kind of effect that had on me; I really enjoyed his accent.

“The Cell Games may have been deciding that world’s fate, but it was the fight of the century here too. It made anime history’s books.” He straightened himself, clearly out of pride.

“Thank you, I didn’t expect it to fall short.” I couldn’t help the giggle that slipped through, but I kept going.

“Your opponent was strong, but your pride and power blinded you. If he was killed before his power surfaced the rest would have fallen quickly. Instead your pride forced you to take the challenge.” An eyebrow raised out of the sheer absurdity of my claim.

“Oh really? And who is this amazing opponent I needed to fear? I’ve had many death threats thrown my way; surely I would know which one could be true?” My eyes were definitely dancing at this engagement.

“I guess you’ll have to wait for the books to learn that.” Course I knew that was a bit of a joke; he could easily just skim through more of the wiki to find out Gohan was the one that defeated him.

“Not going to name my killer?”

“Nope. It would be so ridiculous to you that it would be too hard to believe. But he warns you of his power; he knows it’s there and was willing to stop the fight and let you live. But you wanted to see it. You wanted that fight so badly you tortured him to release it. And eventually it does happen.” His face hardened a bit, the playfulness dwindling away, but he kept up the conversation.

“And his power overpowers me in this state? Even though my powers are well above the likes of Goku and Vegeta, the strongest fighters there?”

I took the biggest breath of my life; this was fun, but terribly risky. “Overpowers? No, he flat-out pummels you to the ground. Relentlessly. Everything you throw at him he counters back tenfold. You became desperate, even to the point of trying to destroy the planet, but he even throws that back at you.” My hands shook, even my stomach was doing flips. Why was I telling him this? He was going to find out on his own, but somehow telling him was the biggest thrill I had in days. I was actually scared of what I was doing, but I was too excited to stop.

“And is this the point where he kills me?” I shook my head again.

“No. Remember I said you kill Goku? How would that happen if this was so cut and dry?” He let that sink in before responding.

“Does he get overconfident? Not kill me quick enough?” That grin made its way back up again for me.

“Now you’re catching on. Did you know your second form has a self-destruct sequence?” He half halted, unsure of that statement.

“Yes I am aware, but what does that have to do with the fight?” I swallowed a bit harder for this one.

“He forces Cyborg 18 out of you and it makes you revert back a form.” His face fell. There was no other way to describe that look on his face.

“Impossible!” he gasped. I nodded my head very slowly.

“Sorry, this is the whole truth. Once you were in that form you knew the fight was lost. You knew there was no way to survive. What would you do if you knew the end was coming?” Realization dawned on him and he whispered the next line.

“I would try to take them down with me.” I waited a moment.

“And you almost did, until Goku stepped in. That little vanishing trick came in handy one more time, sacrificing himself for the sake of the planet, again.” He shook his head in exasperation, but kept his composure.

“So I end up pulling a kamikaze? That is a very underwhelming end to the tournament…” I smiled again, this time I couldn’t wait to tell him what happened next.

“Nope. You still don’t go down. This is why this fight is considered one of the best in history. You survive your own damn suicide.”

“Really? Am I about to get a lesson about myself?” I nodded again.

“Long story short, you have a core within you that managed to survive the explosion with a single cell surviving. You were able to completely regenerate from it, and since you had achieved this form, it regenerates you back to it, despite 18 being gone. And to top it off, you get your power back plus some. From what I understand, that ability is called zenkai…”

“The power boost received from a near-death experience, yes. So I come back better and stronger? It is very hard to see how I lose at this point.”

“This is why I said even knowing how it ends, you would probably still die because you desire to fight a real battle, especially now that your power comes back and you gain a fun new technique out of it…”

“Ah, do I pick up the vanishing technique that Goku used? That would make sense if that was how he prevented me from destroying the planet.”

“Yup, and in our translation we call it the Instant Transmission, but call it what you like. You get to use it too since Goku took you billions of light years away from the Earth,” I laughed. “Honestly you would have needed that move to continue the fight because it would have taken you forever to get back to the planet.” He huffed a bit, obviously pleased with how the fight looks like it should have gone.

“So I make it back to the planet, stronger, with better techniques, and I am still defeated how?” He was getting into the conversation a bit more; that look on his face said it all. He was definitely egging me on for the rest of the fight.

“You catch the entire group off-guard; they thought you died. So of course when you show back up they didn’t exactly jump back into the fight. You even throw a random shot in the crowd and kill Trunks… So that’s twice you manage to kill the pretty boy.”

“Hm, so that means he’s not the one that defeats me. Keep talking; perhaps I can narrow it down enough to figure it out myself.” I caught myself there and realized I needed to be careful if I were to keep that a mystery.

“Then I’ll end this now. Do you know what two fully-powered Kamehameha’s battling for dominance looks like?” He eyed me warily.

“No.”

“Then I guess you’ll see.” He was silent again. I almost feared I had said too much, but I had to admit, that was a fun engagement. It was worth saying too much.

“So despite my power boost I could not overcome this opponent’s Kamehameha and I lose the fight. At least the suicide move wasn’t my end. I would have found a way to change that…”

“And the entire time we truly did not know if you would be defeated or not. This fight was right down to the wire. It was amazing to watch. I’m sorry you have to lose, but it would mean the entire universe would be destroyed if you prevailed.” He rolled his eyes at that statement.

“Of course, the cliché of the heroes stopping the evil villain from destroying the world. Such sentimental rubbish…” Another laugh made its way out of me, despite trying to hold back.

“That’s how human entertainment usually goes; you’ll have to get used to it.” He turned his focus back to me.

“You seem to know this all play-by-play. Is this a fight you’re fond of?” I thought nothing of the question, so naturally I responded with more truth than I should have shared.

“Oh yes, this fight made the battle with Frieza look like fireworks. And while the fight with Vegeta seems to be the original major fight, it technically ends in a stalemate and Goku lets him go. So in the end, the games are the true fight for humanity.” He said nothing but there was definitely something turning in his head. Deciding not to dig further, I posed a random question instead.

“Why didn’t you kill Mr. Satan?” I noted his head cock a little bit to the side before answering.

“I promised to be lenient and not kill anyone if it could be avoided.”

“Seriously, that guy was just begging to be killed. It was like you knew letting him live was more torturous to the audience!” He suddenly burst out with a laugh and I was taken aback by it. The laugh was deep and full, but not as evil-sounding as I expected it to be.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was this world actually hoping I killed the imbecile?” That smile made it across his face, definitely enjoying the fact that the idiot made for both entertainment and misery.

“We all were! There is a fine line between comedy relief and downright stupidity! Even you admitted he was absolutely ridiculous!” He shrugged his shoulders and grinned again, hopefully remembering that he did think something along those lines before the battle began.

“Perhaps, but my goal was to make the Earth tremble in fear, not do it any favors,” he chuckled that deep chuckle again and I felt it go right to my stomach. I took in the fact that while this was fun, I was still engaging with the most dangerous weapon to exist. I still had a hard time realizing that the only thing standing between him and killing people in this world was literally a verbal agreement between us.

“You really need to stop that.”

“Stop what? You’re clearly enjoying this conversation as much as I am.” My shoulders slumped a bit and I sighed slightly.

“It’s so easy to forget who you are. Partly because the armor is gone and so is half of the intimidation, but I have to remind myself that you’re still dangerous and I’m probably a fool for going this far already.”

“You have no reason to fear me now; we have an agreement that has been fulfilled on your part. I will hold up my end of the bargain; I gave you my word.” I felt my face soften and a nervous smile came through.

“And your word is good?” His head bowed ever so slightly, eyes closed for the moment to complete the look.

“My word is my honor; I do not go back on it.” I relaxed a bit, still keeping my reservations, but not worrying about my life nearly as much.

“Then may I ask a favor?”

“Depends.” That was fair; I couldn’t expect him to lift mountains for me, but this was bothering me quite a bit.

“Don’t kill the two I’m about to let out. I feel horrible leaving them locked away the past night.” The look he gave me was curious, but not threatening.

“Kill the two? Two what?” I locked my eyes with his again.

“Promise me you won’t.” He waited for a second.

“Promise.” It was a solid tone I felt I could trust. I stood up and rounded the corner. When I opened my bedroom door I felt the pair bolt past me and fly down the hall as fast as they could. I flew down the hall trying to keep up but they already rounded the corner and I could barely cry out my warning.

“Sorry, they are a bit eccentric! You might have to keep them off of you…” and as soon as I got back in the room I almost choked on the air I was breathing. The dogs had leapt on the couch and they were literally trying to glomp him with tongues licking and tails flailing, but in the blink of an eye they both were held up by their scruffs, tails still wagging furiously. I quickly ran up and pulled both out of his hands as he released them. Sitting back down I held them and encouraged them to stay down. “They will calm down eventually. Sorry about that.” He stared at the pups.

“I will never understand humanity’s desire for ‘pets’,” he stressed, making it clear they could be a nuisance. As they calmed down I was able to let them go and pat their heads.

“I’m grateful for them. They’ve gotten me through quite a bit.” No response from the gruff android, but I didn’t expect anything. Human emotions probably didn’t jive well with him. “Just more of that ‘sentimental rubbish’.” A small smirk and light scoff were all I got in return, so I grabbed the laptop once again.

“There is still quite a bit of info here. Wanna go through some of it?”

“I’d like to see my fight with Goku. I’ll decide if I need to see more after that.” I smiled and pulled up YouTube.

“You got it.”

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I can keep this from being too corny, but I really do believe a real conversation with the greatest weapon created could go something like this. Any feedback will always be welcome!


	6. You Can't Handle the Truth

Chapter 6

You Can’t Handle the Truth

Yesterday was long. I had warned Cell before we started, but minutes turned into hours and hours went past midnight again. He quickly learned how easy it was to get hooked watching YouTube videos. He saw his fight with Goku but then wanted to backtrack, next his fight with Trunks, Vegeta after, until we made it to the earliest episodes of his arrival. Not entire episodes, mind you, just the scenes that were major points to the series. He seemed to enjoy reliving the battles he triumphed over, but had no major interest in what became of him at his tournament. He already knew he was going to die, so what was the point in looking deeper? I let it slide and figured if he ever wanted to see his explosive end he knew where to go.

Today had caught me off-guard. I went about my usual routine and eventually made it to the main room to see what he was up to, only to find him cross-legged on the far side of the room in front of the fireplace. I stared at first, thinking it was just a relaxed pose, but when he never opened his eyes or acknowledged my presence I realized it was probably a meditative pose, then took note of the similarities between his and Piccolo’s pose. I looked around the room and saw nothing else out of the ordinary so I left quietly and hoped he came out of it eventually so we could talk more. I still had some questions that were bothering me from days ago but never really found a good window to ask. The dogs stayed at my heels now that their curiosity was sated, much to his relief, and they went about their usual pastimes. I felt it was quiet enough in the house to head to the basement for some mind-clearing of my own.

The basement was designed to be the main entertainment center with the sound system and TV. I grabbed the controller sitting on the couch and fired up the system, pulled YouTube up on the screen and pulled out my yoga mat. It wasn’t long before both pups had followed me down the stairs and brought the chew toys to keep themselves entertained while I pulled up my video. I got in position and hit play on the controller, then finally let the past four days finally melt off of my shoulders.

Yoga is worth it. When I started I wanted to cry over my weak wrists and knees, but after a few weeks I realized how much they just needed the exercise much like a normal muscle group or cardio workout. The balance is a nice benefit and having a strong core made me feel like I could take on the world some days. I noticed my figure change ever so slightly from it too, and while I still didn’t have chiseled abs I still had the figure I wanted, and I have kept it since. After my body was used to it, my mind came around as well, relaxing and staying in tune with steady breathing and gentle motions. So even after all of the physical activities I do, the yoga still gets worked in, and I can happily tell anyone it’s worth it and should be encouraged. The 40 minutes passed by and even after the video was done I lied there, enjoying the feeling of my body recovering and energizing. The dogs were at the end of the mat, paws stretched out so that they were just barely on the mat, making sure I knew they were there. I sat up and was immediately greeted by the social pair. After I rolled my mat back up we headed back up the stairs for a drink. Once I had an iced tea in my hand I lightly stepped around the corner again to see if anything had changed.

Nope. Still a statue. I sighed and figured today was going to be a quiet day for me. Bugger.

So instead I finished my tea and grabbed the dogs’ leashes and collars and decided today was a good day for a walk. After my session I felt I could easily do a couple miles with them. We started out from the backyard and headed for the tree line and walked by the broken branch. I couldn’t help but think that if Balla hadn’t shown any interest in this area that I may not have found him for months. Possibly not even until fall when the leaves would be out of the way. Knowing now that he may not have ever moved in that entire time because of his armor made me feel even more for him. Though he would probably never tell me himself, he had to be a bit thankful that he took the help I offered.

Which brought me back to the question he asked me yesterday. Why did I show him everything he wanted to know? It was glaringly obvious and very detailed for me, but I would only ever tell him I wanted to and nothing more. Truth be told, I wanted him to agree to let me help him. I wanted him to say he wouldn’t hurt anyone in return. And I was beyond thrilled when he agreed to it all without hesitation.

For most fangirls of the Dragon Ball franchise, the most popular characters were usually between the powerful heroes, Goku and Vegeta, or their sons because of the cuteness blended with their power. For anyone else with different tastes, Piccolo filled that role. It was common and I understood and appreciated the fandom.

For anyone that had more refined, particular taste, Cell was the perfect fit. No pun intended. He had the power to make you cower before him, the techniques to leave your mind-blown, and then the class and voice to do it all in style. Even though it took several stages of evolution, his body even turned out better than the other warriors, even when it was covered in armor. Now that I’ve had the embarrassing honor of seeing the armor off, I can shamefully say it tops everything I have ever seen, magazines or in person.

I quickly dismissed the thoughts from my head and focused on the trail ahead of me as the dogs dragged me through the trees. While I had no problem admitting Cell was my pick from the series years ago, I found myself really hesitating to even hint it over the past couple of days. The idea that a human female found him appealing would either make him laugh or probably downright offend him. Worse yet, he even seemed to be the type to pick on anyone that might admit it. I could picture his reaction to it so easily it made me shake thinking of it. ‘I am designed as the ultimate warrior; I was not designed to be ‘attractive’.’

Well, if Dr. Gero was trying to make him unattractive, he failed miserably.

We got through the woods and found the first post dividing my property line with the neighbors, but the post really wasn’t necessary. Once we were out of the woods there was a long stretch of farm fields across the land. We found the small path along the farmland and followed that towards the back half of the property. The walk was refreshing and was going to take a good portion of the day so I didn’t have to constantly worry about disturbing the meditation. Honestly I knew nothing about it but I didn’t have the nerve to ask just yet. His personality, while very dynamic, still confused me. I knew I had to think of most of what he said from his context and try to think like someone who believed himself to be the ultimate lifeform with no equal. So basically, think like a deity. Since I was a ‘live and let live’ type of person and would prefer peace to conflict, it goes without saying that was easier said than done. So the only thing I could muster so far was respecting him as a guest and let him come to me if anything came up. I felt it safer than most of the other ideas I’ve had. 

We made it to the other end of the woods and cut back across when we hit the farm fields on that side. My property was boxed in from the one side and the back side with the farms, but the other end was mostly open fields where the horses could graze and stretch their legs. Beyond that was the next chunk of woods, but it was only unused hunting property, so there were never visitors. That made this a very quiet road to live on. I searched for a long time for something like this to open up on the market, but it was worth the wait. Trotting over the few logs laying in the way we stepped out of the woods and came out on one of the many fenced fields across the property. I could see the house from here, but my attention was redirected to the horses meeting us along the fence line. They were a nosey pair as we walked along the fence, constantly poking their heads over to see if I had brought any goodies. I put my hand out but only to rub their noses as we reached the end of the fence. The dogs kept pulling me along, knowing the path we usually took and not letting the horses distract them.

We made it back late afternoon and the sun was leveling with the land, bathing it in a golden glow. Holding the leashes I leaned up over the fence, enjoying the view. The horses and dogs got their dinner for the night, so they were distracted for the moment. Figuring dinner sounded good I wandered back to the house with them on my heels again. First thing I checked when I stepped in was the main room again and saw the exact same scene that was there this morning. Remembering that he said he had no need for a drink I figured food was going to be the same answer, so I made the rest of my night around dinner and relaxing in the basement with the dogs.

The next morning came around and I woke the same way I’ve always been; tails wagging and noses poking at my face despite the covers being thrown over me. The fact that I covered up more than normal told me it was a cold morning. Great. June was right around the corner and we were still in the low 50s. Grumbling as I pulled my feet out from under the warm covers I made sure to grab a comfy sweater and some socks to keep warm. Heading down the hallway again with the pups at my feet again was routine and getting my latte started seemed necessary today, but I felt the need to look around the corner again figuring I would see the same thing again.

But I didn’t. In fact he wasn’t even in the room. I felt my chest tighten at the thought of the reasons why he would leave. The only one that made sense was that his power had returned.

“Oh hell.” I looked at the laptop on the couch. How long before I opened it up to headlines across the news sites screaming ‘Monster attacks major cities’ or ‘Military crushed by flying monster’? I tried to relax, telling myself that he had agreed that this world would be unscathed. I turned back to the dogs and they just looked back at me, heads tilted and tails wagging. The machine beeped for me to brew my drink and after hesitating for a moment, grabbed out a mug and filled it. After stirring in a few ice cubes, I took a small sip and looked out the window…

…and nearly dropped my mug.

He was standing out in the backyard, arms crossed for sure even though his back faced me, still dressed in the grey pants but no shirt. After realizing he hadn’t left I regained some composure and ended up staring again, taking notice that his tail was missing. So that left him almost completely human-like. The only detail left was his feet, and even they could easily be dismissed as a smooth boot. Not sure if the recent change was positive or not, I decided to sit down with my mug and enjoy the warmth before heading out for the usual chores. As I sipped my drink, however, I found my nerve starting to waver.

What possessed him to change location? Especially with it being colder than normal? From here I couldn’t say for sure if it was a meditation pose again or if he was just standing outside for seclusion. Another thought crossed my mind; if he was the ultimate creation, the weather shouldn’t make him flinch no matter how drastic the changes were. So while I was in here being a pansy to the cold, he probably didn’t even notice let alone care. And I was hesitant to go outside if he was going to stand right in the middle of my path. Did he choose that spot intentionally? It was starting to feel that way.

I finished my drink and set the cup aside, still hesitating to step outside. I didn’t like it but I held my head up high, pulled the hoodie over my head, slipped the shoes on and went out back, keeping the dogs in the house as I closed the door. Each step towards the paddock felt like a lead weight as I got closer and closer to the still figure in my path. I kept my resolve strong and, with bated breath, stepped slightly aside and past him, straight to the barn doors. My pulse roared in my ears, reminding me that there was pretty much a self-proclaimed god standing in the open, but I ignored it and continued my chores. ‘Self-proclaimed god or not, horses still need to eat.’

I locked the gate behind me and headed back up the path to the house, once again walking past the statue in my way. I only glanced as I walked past seeing his eyes closed and face stoic; I doubted he even sensed me walk by. Unless that was how meditation worked and he knew what was going around him at all times. I really couldn’t say. But I did find it odd he switched from a sitting position to a standing one today. Great, there was another set of questions tacked onto the list I had building up. I may have to start writing them down to keep track.

With today being a bit chilly for my taste, I kept myself indoors for the day and flipped between playing with the dogs and browsing life on the laptop. I zipped through my Facebook page, a few other sites I had accounts on, and then finally pulled up YouTube just to check the updates there. There wasn’t much today, but I let my eyes scan over a particular parody series I was fond of and smiled. ‘If Cell knew something so ridiculous was being made at their expense, he would probably lose it and threaten their lives…’ I laughed a bit at the thought of him showing up at an anime convention just to tell the group to stop making a mockery of him.

I kept to myself for much of the day, catching up chores and maintaining the little cleaning that needed to be done. Huge advantages of a new home: it comes to you clean and stays that way easily. I had pulled my phone out of the bedroom once I realized I’d forgotten it and found a few texts waiting for me a few hours late.

_“Hey hows the new guest doin?” _I thought on how to answer that for a moment before looking to the next one. _“Mall and food this weekend if ur up for it”_ I went ahead and shot back my responses.

_“Guest is fine. Clothes are good, thanks again. And Friday? Got a time?”_ I slipped the phone into my pocket of my sweats and headed back to the main room. By the time I sat back down I felt the buzz and pulled it back out.

_“Np, happy they fit and was thinking Saturday, class doesn’t end til next week” _I shot back my response after remembering he was finishing up at college this year.

_“Sounds good. Who’s driving?” _I wanted to laugh. I already knew the answer, but I still liked seeing him beg.

_“Can I drive your car???” _There it was. I dare say he enjoyed my car as much as I did, and it wasn’t even his dream car.

_“Of course. Come on out whenever. I’ll be ready.”_ And with that the date was set. I looked forward to it. It was a hectic past few months so we didn’t get a chance to hang too much. He was in a rush to finish his last year on time to graduate, so he had tacked on more classes than he normally could handle.

The evening rolled along slowly and only when I saw the sun glowing through the back window did I even notice it was getting late. Getting dinner for me was priority and the dogs happily waited for scraps to be tossed to them. “Spoiled brats,” I laughed as each of them got some sort of treat from me.

I looked out the window as I cleaned up the dishes and noticed the statue still out back, never moved from his spot. Resisting the urge to ask if he was going to call it a night, I put the dishes away and called the dogs to bed.

Morning came around again, and I felt the cold seeping under the blanket this time. ‘Seriously, summer is coming. Why is it so cold!?’ my head screamed at the cold air getting to my feet and realized that the dogs had ruffled the blankets so much that it pulled it up over my feet. Shuffling them back under, I stayed in bed for a bit longer than normal. It was too cold to roll out just yet. Awake and warming back up, my mind started to wonder about today’s new experiences. What spot would he pick to meditate today? Or was he even going to? Ugh, I had more questions than solutions in my head now, but it still felt surreal to me. I continued on with my normal life despite taking him under my roof. As if it wasn’t a big deal.

My eyes snapped open. Of course it was a big deal! This was literally just a waiting game for him. He will simply wait until his power returns to him and he will find a way back to his own world to either die in battle or find a way around that fate, though I still doubted he would be able to avoid it. He clearly enjoyed fighting too much to pass up the power of real competitor. I wondered if he had realized that yet. And the idea that this entire world-switch was nothing more than a temporary setback seemed out of place to me. He was going to be here just long enough to get his power back and go back to his own world to be killed and prolong the story. It was depressing to think about, but I didn’t let it bother me just yet. Not until I knew more of what happened.

Curiosity got the best of me and I rolled out of the bed with the fluffy mongrels in tow. I wanted to ask my questions before I forgot them, but I didn’t want to be pushy either. Deciding I would figure out how to start the conversation after feeding everyone, I slipped on some soft socks and pulled out the warmest sweater I owned. The dogs took off ahead of me again and I pressed on a bit faster than normal, getting them fed and heading to the end of the hall for my latte. Switching the machine on and getting my mug out I instinctively turned to step into the main room and see if anything had changed today. Just as I took my first step, he was suddenly in front of me and I threw myself back to keep from bumping into him.

The fluffy socks I had on were suddenly the worst choice I could have made as soon as I felt them slip on the tile and I felt my feet go out from under me. A tiny yelp slipped through my lips and I went straight down, slamming my rear into the hard tiled floor. My arms were splayed out to help break the fall, but it still smarted just a tiny bit. I looked up from my spot to see him cross his arms over his chest and a lightly amused smirk came to his lips.

“And here I was led to believe yoga helped develop balance. I must have been mistaken,” he chuckled at my unfortunate luck.

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, mocking his pose, and retorted, “I have phenomenal balance! These socks just don’t agree with this tile…” I felt the excuses were just humiliating me more, so instead I just sat there and glared back up at his grinning face. “I swear it feels like you did that on purpose…” Suddenly what he had said sank in and a dumbfounded look crossed my face. “How did you know about the yoga? I was in the basement…” He uncrossed his arms with a light snort and placed his hands in an odd formation, like they circled around each other.

“Meditation is not a means of being distracted; I have been fully aware of the past two days and your motions around the area. If anything, my senses are more acute in that state.” Well I guess that answered whether he noticed me walk by yesterday. Hell, he probably knew where all we walked then too. My memory was jogged for the moment and I decided to pose a few of my questions as I clambered back to my feet.

“Oh, so worrying about distracting you was useless... So what was it for? Trying to figure out something?” I caught myself before getting too much out, “If you don’t mind me asking, that is…” Instead of responding, he stepped past me and towards the back door where the dogs waited for it to open. I grabbed my mug and followed behind as he stepped out back and the pups took off past him. I caught myself gazing at his smooth back as I closed the door behind me. He took a few paces out before turning back to me.

“Do you have any other questions you wish to pose? I feel it would be best to get them all in the open as I believe all of the answers will tie together now.” I took one more step before I thought them out.

“Yeah, a couple, just gotta jog my memory here…” I sipped my latte, enjoying the warmth it provided. I thought back to when we make our agreement. That statement came back to mind.

“Okay, a few days ago you said that our world proved your purpose still had value, does that have anything to do with this?” He nodded once for a response. “Okay…did it change when you found out how the tournament ends?” I eyed his face very carefully unsure of his reaction. He shook his head no for that one, but then chuckled aloud.

“Let me start from the beginning. You’ve given me much to think about, so it’s fair I share what I may have figured out.” I let my shoulders relax then and let my mind focus on him rather than the questions I hoped would come to me later. “Our first encounter was a terrible start and I apologize for that. If I hadn’t been stubborn I would have learned more sooner and I regret that.” I shrugged my shoulders in a ‘no problem’ fashion, but let him continue, “After you showed me the video I made assumptions too quickly and I also apologize for my reaction. However your departure let me dwell on a few possibilities, so take back your apology; that route was for the better.” I immediately jumped on that.

“Now hold on, that was your choice to make, not mine. I should have let you get the last word in.” He sighed in a light frustration, so I apologized again. “Sorry, it’s just how I am.”

He straightened up again before he continued, “By the time you showed up the third time I had already formed several possibilities and needed more information to use deductive reasoning to see which one was the most probable, which is why I was so persistent with needing your assistance.” Okay, so maybe some of this was starting to come together, but what did it have to do with his purpose? “While I was not thrilled knowing my armor broke off so easily, I was less enthused with the fact that my power continued to ‘elude me’, as you put it the other day. And it looks like it will continue that way for now. The meditation was to see if my power had been taken away from me or if it just needed to be awoken somehow.” He paused, and I let the story sink in for that moment. He had just spoken more in the last two minutes than the entire time he had been here, so it was a bit of a moment for me. I gripped my mug a bit tighter.

“What do you think happened?” I asked almost too quietly. He breathed in deeply before his face set into a bit of an unsure look.

“I can’t tell for sure. Meditation can only look so far because you’re only searching within yourself, but that was why I changed locations and stances for the second day. I was replicating my pose at my arena with the idea that if my power was still with me it needed a familiar mindset, one I did not have while in your home. As the past days have proven, it is not returning to me in that manner.” So he has been worrying about his power for the most part; that I could understand. But why hadn’t he talked about the truth about his future? Or is he still dealing with the fact that he will die? I didn’t dare ask.

“You seem contemplative, Miss Erika. Are you unsure of my speculations?” I shifted my feet, changing my position, but more out of habit than discomfort. I shook my head at first, but my voice did make its way up.

“I’m just wrapping my head around how calm you are staying over all of this. How things literally changed in the blink of an eye and yet you’ve managed to think this much through…” A light grin came up on his face after all of the seriousness and it was refreshing to see.

“I would credit that to my design of perfection.” I smiled at the smug confidence that saturated that comment. I had figured he would start bragging at some point. I took another sip from my warm drink, noticing it was getting cool too quick. The gears started turning in my head again and I looked back toward him.

“You still haven’t answered my first question.” He crossed him arms over his chest at this point, and the look on his face changed a bit from smug to more devious.

“Even with all of the concerns I had for my power, I was also curious about the existence of this world after I realized I was not in mine anymore. Granted the idea that this world created mine was not something I could have predicted, the fact that it exists and I am here to witness it means something else entirely. It means my purpose as a stepping stone to Goku’s story has altered. In what manner I don’t know of, but as long as I live in this world the future of my death has at least been postponed.” I held my breath, letting that sink in.

‘He might live.’ That detail alone could have had me dancing in the middle of the yard but I kept my excitement down. There would be repercussions of his life continuing in that world too, other than the glaring point that he would still want to destroy the planet. Another question suddenly brewed up in my thoughts as that last bit sunk in. “Does it bother you that we use your world as entertainment?” It was how I rationalized their world’s existence. Not that we created it but somehow have used it for our own purposes. A loud sigh escaped him and I swear I could feel the irritation from him.

“As angry as I would like to be over the idea that my future is already determined by this ‘creator’ your world has, because this much has already changed, I believe that world is out of the creator’s hands now.” He seemed to make that the final thought he wanted to share as he turned away from me, sighing as his head dipped down again. I looked into my cup and saw a bit of the chilled drink was left, so I dumped it off to the side and set the cup in the grass and headed toward the barn to get the morning chores out of the way. I passed by him and he didn’t move, so I figured the conversation was done for the moment. He didn’t ask much from me, so I figured I was safe for the moment. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for personal questions yet.

I was mistaken. As soon as I returned and passed through the gate he turned back toward me with a questioning look on his face. Here we go.

“I do not believe you have told me entirely why you helped me. If I’m to get to the bottom of this situation, I would ask you be honest with me.” I felt my heart skip a beat from that. There was no way I was going to tell him the whole truth and I honestly didn’t believe him being my favorite had anything to do with his current predicament. But I did fear lying to him. Well, not lying, just leaving out certain truths. That wasn’t the same thing, right?

“I already told you, I wanted to.” I was shaking ever so slightly, but I kept my bearings a bit. His face scrunched up a bit.

“And why, pray tell, would you want to help someone that would destroy another world simply because he could?” his tone was deeper, warning me to reconsider. I wanted to worry about the other world. I really did. But I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him what he wanted to know.

“You promised you wouldn’t touch my world. That’s all I cared about, so I don’t worry about what you learn now.” Perhaps if I seemed a bit selfish he would take that and leave it as it is.

“You could have saved both worlds and left me there.” Why in the world was he giving me all of these ideas? Was he really that stunned I offered any help at all? I shook my head and dropped my shoulders in defeat.

“I couldn’t just leave you there.” That almost felt like too much truth. I walked by to head back in the house. But he fell right in stride with me, definitely putting my nerves on edge.

“Why couldn’t you leave me there?” He stepped in front of my path and I felt tiny under his looming frame. My eyes went straight to the ground, terrified to make any eye contact, but still kept my stance.

“I wouldn’t have left ANYBODY there,” I stressed. “Now, please. Stop.” I felt my fists clench, waiting for his retort. He loomed over me. For a moment I worried he would push again, but he turned back to the house ahead of me.

“I will get my answers, one way or another. You would do well to remember that.” I put my hand to my chest, realizing how long I had held my breath and my fast my heart was racing.

‘That was a little intimidating…just a little…’ my mind raced, but my feet still managed to obey and head back in the house behind him. Somehow I managed to keep my distance the rest of the day. I couldn’t read why he was so bothered by my help. I stuck with my original plan and let him keep to himself with the notion that if he wanted to get information from me, he knew he was intimidating enough to come after me.

I hoped that day wouldn’t come soon.

Thanks for your support!


	7. Shaky Trust, Uncertain Future

Chapter 7

Shaky Trust, Uncertain Future

It was hard to sleep again. Cell’s attempt to get information from me yesterday rattled me more than I thought it originally did. I had spent the rest of the day on the opposite end of the house, anticipating another interrogation round, but it never came. So when I started to feel drowsy, I quietly panicked at the idea that I might wake up to something horrible in his attempt to get me to confess something that not only was useless to him, but devastating to me.

Shrugging off my fear was tough to do, but eventually I dragged myself from my bed and went about my usual day and stopped in the kitchen for breakfast and my latte. Some movement in the backyard caught my eye and I leaned over to look out the window.

Cell was out back again, but he was not meditating this time. Instead the movement I caught was him in the middle of several kicks that literally had him airborne for a moment before landing smoothly in the grass. His movement kept pace as he threw several punches and kicks in a rhythm that looked almost unreal. I have watched plenty of choreographed marital arts videos and they can be breathtaking to see, but having it right in the backyard was a whole new experience. He was without a shirt again and his back was facing me, so I was able to enjoy from a distance without feeling so guilty this time. I felt I got away with watching a lot more than I probably should have. His arms suddenly took a stance I didn’t recognize and I watched as his body shifted into a backflip that looked effortless. I wondered how limited his training must have felt without being able to fly or use any specialized techniques. My drink poured into the cup and I looked away for a moment to get the ice cubes to cool it down, but by the time I grabbed my drink and looked out the window again he had stopped and was standing in his cross-armed pose yet again. Feeling somewhat relieved that I got to see him in motion without him noticing I took my bagel and mug in my hands and headed to the couch in the other room. That little bit was amazing to watch and I wondered what he was still capable of even in this state without his powers. I didn’t go so far to think what a fight would look like since there would be no one on this planet to give him a worthy challenge, but could he dodge bullets? I laughed at the idea as a scene from The Matrix played through my head.

A handful of minutes passed with nothing other than the sound of the dogs bouncing in the room until it was interrupted by the back door opening and closing. I held still for a moment, realizing that I was in the room he spent the most time in and the odds of him bothering me again were higher than I liked. I didn’t even have to look up as I heard him step around the corner and into the room, walk past me and ended up sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace again. I dared to look up and saw that he wasn’t in a meditative state, so I gathered all of my nerve and decided to engage.

“Morning,” I squeaked not quite as calmly as I wanted it to sound. His facial expression never changed.

“Morning.” My drink suddenly seemed very interesting as my eyes dove down to stare into it. Causal conversation usually came easy to me but with him it always seemed either too awkward or tough to find a common topic to start with. An odd sound came from him and I realized he might actually start the conversation today.

“I noticed you watching from the window. Enjoy the view?” I choked on my drink as I sipped it, completely taken aback from the line and the lascivious tone hidden under it. After I got my breathing under control I looked up at him, still stifling a few coughs with my hand. I felt a tear formed in the corner of one eye out of my coughing fit. My eyes dared to lock with his and I noticed the small grin on his face.

Oh, he knew well what he was doing.

“Well damn…thought I got….away with that one…” the coughing wouldn’t stop when I tried to get the sentence out. A few more coughs and I finally straightened myself up. “Seriously, you never faced the window. How?” I could not get enough of the devious smile that crossed his features.

“The backflip was strategically placed. I caught a glimpse.” I glared back at him feeling caught red-handed with the idea that he probably knew I enjoyed the view. I dared to take another sip from my drink, hoping he didn’t have another line tucked away to surprise me again. But he stayed quiet and I was able to enjoy my drink safely. Moments passed and he settled in with his eyes closed but his arms still crossed. At first I guessed he was actually going into meditation again, but the feeling in the room wasn’t the same, so I finally just gave up trying to figure it out and relaxed despite his overwhelming presence. My curiosity finally won out and I gave in that he saw me watching earlier.

“Is the training even worth it now without your power? It can’t feel the same…” I looked up lightly from my drink to see his eyes open again.

“It has a different effect on my body now that I have to work against gravity without my powers. I’ve calculated a very slim probability of my power returning during my training, but it is so improbable it almost wasn’t an option.” I tilted my head at the depressing notion.

“Almost wasn’t?”

“Otherwise I would get bored quickly, and while I promised not to harm you I can’t promise I won’t become destructive in my boredom.” My eyes widened at the thought.

“I’d really rather you didn’t. By all means, train to your heart’s content.” At first I almost corrected myself with my word choices, but the intrigued look he gave me after completely took my mind off of it.

“You don’t seem too bothered in my attempts to obtain my power. With your original concerns I assumed you would at least attempt to prevent me from training.” I stopped sipping on my drink and my eyebrows went straight up out of shock.

“As if I could stop you??” My voice was a bit higher pitched than I liked, but he didn’t appear to be bothered by it. My lips turned up a bit in a quick grin as I quickly added more. “Besides, I could be just as excited about your powers returning as you are.” This time it was his turn for his face to light up.

“Are we now? What would you benefit from me gaining my abilities?”

“I’d be the first one in this world to see it!” I piped happily. I couldn’t hold back the huge grin on my face at the idea of his powers returning now that I felt the most dangerous part of our deal had already passed.

“Not dreading the day it returns anymore?” he taunted. I shrugged back, not really having a clear answer anymore whether his powers would be an issue or not. If I could trust his word that he wouldn’t go out and destroy the world, then I would be ecstatic for that day. If not, then I would rather it waited. I took another sip from my drink and thought out the possibilities of what else could happen that day.

“I’m hoping to get some answers too. Why you got dropped here, what took your powers, and hopefully get you returned to your own world without anyone else in this world finding out you even existed.” My tone dropped quite a bit at the fact that while I haven’t minded him being here, it couldn’t last forever. Not with his sadistic side possibly hidden under the cordial front he put up for our agreement, and certainly not with the fact that while I lived alone, I still had family that would eventually wonder why they weren’t allowed at the house anymore. He couldn’t stay hidden forever and to get him to live a fake life would never happen, not even under the best of deals we could make. He was way too proud to be anything other than the perfect weapon and make sure the world knew it.

“Has your offer of letting me stay in your residence started to waver?” I immediately regretted saying that how I did, but the look on his face was clear he expected me to answer truthfully. I thought it over before responding.

“Not really, but I do understand that while you’ve been more respectful than I expected, it can’t go on for very long. There is nothing in this world for you. No opponents worthy of fighting you and definitely no access to more power. And if the wrong person ever found out you were here, I think I know what I’d wake up to the next day…” His expression only changed slightly.

“What do you really think could happen? Would anyone in this world even believe that I existed, even under the most unlikely of circumstances?” My mind started wandering to horrible thoughts of what would happen if the right media channel got ahold of the news of his existence.

“Well, if I woke up to half of the US military on my doorstep, then I’ll know I ‘done fucked up’.” He seemed interested in the subject of our military as soon as I mentioned it.

“Would they even know what it would mean to take me hostage? They will have signed their own death warrants and their entire base would be wiped out the day I got my power back. What is your level of military up to, nuclear power? Hydrogen perhaps? Those pale in comparison to pure energy.” I suddenly felt my pulse rise at the idea of our military being so rash. I frowned as my thoughts turned more political.

“Lately there have been tests done with anti-matter, but not much is known right now…Our military is run by money-driven idiots that would jump on the idea of a pure energy source without a second thought. You’d be taken out of here and hidden on some classified base and experimented on to levels I don’t dare think of.” His expression changed slightly at my outburst. “A biological weapon built successfully and with the power to destroy entire worlds? Hell yeah they’d risk it all to figure you out, and I promise you wouldn’t like one second of it. You wouldn’t be a guest; you’d be a science experiment.” It was quiet for a bit. I even had to steady my temper after thinking how quickly and easily something to that level could happen.

“Your concern is something to take note of. But I can assure you, I have no plans of making myself known until I know I can prevent such extremes. I have no interest in becoming anyone’s experiment.” His tone was dead serious, but it was clear even he was nervous of being put in that kind of situation. A half-hearted smile barely came to my face and it was almost forced, but I had to admit a bit of relief from his declaration.

“Well, if it means anything to you, thanks for laying low and staying fairly cordial… It keeps me out of trouble as much as it does you.” The silence settled over the room again and I could hear the dogs coming back from playing in the other rooms. I stood up as soon as I saw them to keep them from jumping on Cell again and dropped the dishes at the sink before feeding everyone. After that I was outside taking care of the beasts out back and letting the dogs get their fresh air. Upon locking the gate I leaned my arms over the fence and stared out across the green fields. My mind would not get off the idea that while Cell admitted he would lay low, I still feared something stupid happening and he would get ripped away and I’d be deemed a terrorist for harboring an alien weapon.

My fears were interrupted when I heard the door again. I didn’t move from my spot. I waited as I felt the pressure of his presence right behind me.

“I do not typically care for humans or their well-being, but if you have concerns for your safety because of me, we can part ways. I agreed to a deal to not harm you, and that does include any indirect harm from an incident due to your government.” His tone wasn’t harsh, but it did feel like he was giving me an option because he didn’t want to be responsible for me, not because he was concerned for me. I breathed in deep and let the ideas of worst-case scenarios play through my mind before I turned to face him. I finally let a small smile break through and leaned back on the fence.

“Nah, I think I’ll take my chances.” His smirk came back, proud as ever.

“You don’t believe a situation will arise that will put you in any form of danger?” I shrugged my shoulders.

“To be honest, I think as long as no one else recognizes you, the odds of your power coming back are much higher than the government kidnapping you. So then if they do figure out you exist and show up, it sure would be fun to watch you put them in their place.” I laughed as he shook his head in disbelief.

“You are certainly more interesting when you willingly engage with me. Yesterday was quite boring.” I felt myself clam up at the reminder of his attitude yesterday. Was this how he was going to interrogate me again? It was well done if it was; he lured me right in with a very casual conversation and I found myself being more passionate about the topic than I should have been.

“Yesterday was a bit…overwhelming. Not that I’m afraid of you, but you can still be very intimidating when you want to be.”

“I do not mean to use any aggressive measures for information considering how much you’ve willingly given me, but withholding anything will pique my curiosity. So while I do apologize for my lack of restraint, know that I will not stop asking either. Persistence usually pays off in the end for me; else I would have never obtained this form and instead wandered a dead timeline for the rest of my life.” These moments were mind-boggling for me. Again he had left me at a loss with the little bit he was willing to share. I almost felt convinced to tell him right then and there that the biggest reason I wanted to help him was because I absolutely loved his character and story and became my favorite.

Almost.

“Well, as long as persistence doesn’t include beating me for information that means absolutely nothing to you, then I won’t be so defensive next time. I’ll just get better at changing the subject,” I laughed.

“I’ll be the one that decides if any information has any meaning. And there are much better forms of persistence than physical abuse,” he warned with a grin, but I wasn’t afraid of it. Instead it almost sounded like a bit of a challenge. But I didn’t get a chance to react as I heard the dogs start barking and run around the garage to the front yard. I looked up to Cell with a nervous look.

“Might wanna head back inside and keep out of sight. Didn’t think I was expecting anyone,” and with that I took off running to the front yard. I hoped he took the advice and hid. As I rounded the corner I noticed a huge white truck out front and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The mangas finally showed up! I met the driver coming up the driveway and took the heavy box from his arms and signed for the package. After apologizing about the dogs, he went off and I called them back into the house and headed to the main room where Cell was waiting in his usual place. I plunked the box down on the couch and started to break into it.

“Are these the books you said you obtained?” his brow rose as I grinned happily and I pulled the tape clear off.

“Yup! My day is complete. And now,” I pulled out the top book, the first volume still wrapped in the clear plastic, and tossed it to him, “you have the entire story.” He ran one of his nails along the edge, ripping clear through the plastic, set it aside, and opened the manga. I laughed as I saw him open it from the wrong end. “Japanese mangas read from right to left. You’re at the end of the book.” After giving me an odd look, he corrected himself and started flipping quickly through the pages. Several minutes later he stood up and sat on the other side of the couch and handed the book back to me. I found the next volume and handed it to him. He repeated the process and, a bit slower this time, went through the pages. I took the time to pull them all out and stack them in order. I pulled out the last few at the bottom and kept them close to me. He was done with the second book by the time I had ripped the plastic off of the first dozen volumes. He set it down but took notice of the books I still kept in my lap.

“Any particular reason those books are withheld from the rest?” I was hesitant at first, but after a small smile I gave in.

“I’d like to read these first before you got to them.” He eyed me suspiciously for a moment.

“Is that the part of the story where I show up?” I nodded.

“I’ve never been able to read the entire saga, so I wanted to see what differences there were between this and the two animes. Besides, I thought you didn’t want to know how it ended.” It felt odd being able to taunt him a bit with the books, but he recovered quickly after glaring for a moment.

“That future is no longer going to happen, so I have no need to see it.” And with that he grabbed the next book off of the pile and proceeded to flip through it. Excited about being able to read the entire Android Saga without being pressured into giving it up, I ripped of the plastic and started going through the pages at my own pace.

The afternoon passed as we went through the books. The Cell Games went a bit differently compared to both animes, but I was definitely satisfied with the art style and pace of the dialogue. I never asked Cell what he was thinking through the books, but he flipped through them at a steady pace and never asked any questions. Several hours passed with the only interruption for me was to get lunch and let the dogs back outside to play. When he finished the stack I noticed him take the early books of the Android Saga and carefully flipped through them. When I gave him an odd look, he only responded with ‘comparing with his original timeline’ or something to that effect. I let it go and enjoyed the last book in my hand.

The evening came quickly and he took his leave first, heading back outside to dwell on the newest information he had obtained. I hoped the mangas weren’t too different from what had occurred in their world otherwise my own perception could have been inaccurate, and that would make asking more questions difficult. I let the worries fade when I started to feel drowsy and set the books aside, called the dogs and headed to bed.

The next couple days were almost copies of each other. Get up, routine drink, typical chores, and Cell training out in the backyard. I only dared to sneak peeks of him in motion here and there. I would have happily enjoyed watching him for hours if I knew for sure he didn’t mind and wouldn’t tease or ask questions.

The third day rolled around and I went about my routine again, but glancing in the backyard I found no bio-weapon going through his paces. I leaned farther, daring to scan more of the yard, but still nothing was to be seen. While I found it odd, I didn’t panic. Instead I went with my drink around the corner and half-halted when I saw him sitting in front of the fireplace again. I took my usual spot on the couch and pulled out my laptop to go through my accounts again, only glancing up a few times to see what stance he was in again. I noticed the cross-legged pose was typical, but his arms were held in a different pose, more like he was holding his sides. I paid no mind to it and continued to read through the headlines.

‘Unemployment rising, stock market fluctuating, gold and silver was rising in value…’ I scanned through the market watch page. ‘I really miss having all of this explained to me…’

The room was silent, for a moment. I couldn’t quite place the sound at first, but then I stopped clicking for a moment and stilled my breaths, trying to figure it out. It sounded like a light whistling sound. My mind started to flip through the appliances that it could have been, but I caught another sound that didn’t match up, and I realized it was Cell. I watched carefully; his breaths were the whistling sound. I didn’t mean to stare, but my instincts were saying this wasn’t normal. As if to confirm my suspicions, he took one breath a little quicker and repeated the other odd sound I heard. My mouth reacted faster than my mind was thinking.

“Cell?” No response. At first I was certain I was interrupting something important, but after another minute of those odd breaths he took I tried again. “Cell!”

It was like waking someone out of a nightmare. His arms came undone quickly and hit the floor on either side of him and his eyes snapped open. After a quick gasp for air he glared up at me, and I suddenly felt the size of a fly under his gaze.

“What?!” He snapped suddenly. I held myself for a moment, almost terrified to talk to him, but after he blinked a few times and shook his head I found my voice.

“Sorry but it looked like something was wrong. It didn’t look like you were in meditation this time.” I really tried to sound concerned, but my tone was almost all apologetic. He huffed and brought his arms back up, but this time he crossed his arms normally and straightened his posture. His eyes glared at me again.

“It’s nothing. This world must affect my body differently than mine.” And with that, he closed his eyes and relaxed again. I shook a bit; that was a pretty violent reaction for something that seemed out of the norm for him. Turning back to the laptop I continued reading news articles.

Not ten minutes later I heard that sound again. Glancing over to him again I noticed something had changed. His arms had lost the form he had and they had wrapped around his sides again, almost like he was holding them up. He leaned a bit more forward and the quicker breaths were coming a bit more frequent. If it wasn’t obvious a few minutes ago it was now. Something was wrong.

“Cell seriously, snap out of it!” Once again he let his arms hit the floor and he jerked up again, only I could slightly see his teeth were clenched as he glared at me.

“I said I’m fine! Why are you so persistent?” I swallowed the lump in my throat and shoved my fear back for the moment.

“I don’t know if you see it but something is wrong! I get you are probably affected differently here, but that sound you’re making doesn’t sound healthy. Talk to me.” Our eyes were locked, waiting to see who faltered first. He scoffed and looked away. His arms came up to his knees this time. “It’s just a guess, but I’ve seen enough to say this doesn’t seem normal for you.” He didn’t move or respond. Instead his eyes faced forward, not focusing on anything in particular but definitely avoiding eye contact with me. Several moments passed. I set the laptop aside and sipped from my drink. After setting it down quietly I crossed my legs up on the couch and leaned my arms on them. I almost tried to engage him again, but I noticed him shake his head again and take a deep breath before I saw him shift around to move. He stood up quickly but his hand went to his head in a flash. I watched with confusion and stared as he took a step sideways, and when he took his next step I saw his frame buckle at the knees and his entire body slumped forward.

“Oh shit, don’t fall!” I bolted off the couch just in time to get an arm out as he collapsed forward. Throwing my weight under him I managed to break some of his fall, but his knees still crashed loudly to the floor, shaking the entire room. The dead weight of his upper body proved too much for me and he fell forward but I cradled one shoulder just enough to guide him down rather than letting him free fall. My mind froze as I realized his body was limp and his breaths were making a harsh rattling sound. I quickly moved his body enough to get him on his back, noticing his eyes were closed with a pained expression. I pulled back and sat on my haunches, giving him a bit of space and braced for when he snapped out of it, just in case he came up swinging. I waited, watching his face try to relax, only to grit his teeth again and noticed his hands trembling.

‘Good god, this better not be a major emergency… no hospital in the world would know what to do with him,’ my mind frantically searched for ideas. Trying to read these symptoms were only giving me human issues; fatigue, dehydration, anxiety and panic attacks. Another few moments and his eyes finally opened up and his jaw relaxed. I waived a few fingers in front of his face as he stared upward, bringing his gaze down to me.

“What…I collapsed?” All I gave him was a shallow nod and a frustrated sigh.

“Broke your fall…barely. Ready to talk? Now that we know something’s wrong…” I gave him a look that made it clear I was serious. He didn’t give in right away, but after bringing a hand up and seeing how badly he was shaking, he sighed loudly through his nose and teeth, looking a bit shamed.

“I didn’t want to believe it at first, but it’s clear now I’ve been getting weaker. Each day has been progressively worse. I started training believing I just needed to keep my body moving, but it seems to have accelerated it.” I listened carefully, amazed he was willing to admit it freely now even though he had to hit bottom first. I actually expected him to deny everything despite his condition. I bit my lip in thought, thinking about his condition the day after he was on the couch.

“But didn’t you recover when you got a chance to rest without your armor?” He nodded in a late response. “How quickly did this set in?” His eyes blinked a few times, his brows furrowing a bit before he spoke.

“Three days, I think. I don’t feel at full function right now.” Alright a few days after real rest and he stared feeling weak. But was it weakness or just exhaustion from a typical day?

“Well humans don’t function very well after being awake after 24 hours either, but you’re not human so I can’t compare the two. Any other pains or issues I can work with? I’m stuck with only human problems if you don’t have any other clues for me.” He didn’t try to answer me; instead he leaned and attempted to pull himself upright, but only got a few inches up before his body shook again and he ended up on his back again. His eyes shut in sheer frustration.

“This weakened body is starting to get very irritable…” he groaned in his complaint. I sat down after leaning on my knees a bit too long and looked him over again.

“Well the shaking has stopped, so that’s improvement. Maybe letting you rest again will help your condition. You probably collapsed from exhaustion…” He lightly huffed out of frustration from the assumption.

“This will be bothersome if I need to rest every few days. It is such a waste; I never needed rest when I had my power…” he scoffed. I shook my head and glared at him.

“Humans have to sleep every night and many animals sleep more than the average human does. I think you’re getting off lucky only needing to rest once every few days. Suck it up.” My tone was solid, but I didn’t feel like I was endangering myself when he could barely move. He noticed my snarky tone.

“Why do you always get braver when I am at a clear disadvantage? Do I need to remind you that I will be back on my feet the moment I recover?” I stared back, not sure how to respond to the remark other than stutter my apology.

“Sorry, but really, you should be looking on the bright side of this…I mean, if rest is all you need that’s not a bad tradeoff to lose your power…” He shifted again, making another attempt to lift himself up, but he shook again. With a reaction speed I didn’t know I had my arm shot out and grabbed him behind his elbow and yanked him up the rest of the way. As his body swayed in the sudden movement I felt his hand wrap around my elbow as well, steadying himself as he brought his other hand to his head again. I noted how much he put behind his grip, making sure I didn’t let go. I swallowed hard when I realized what kind of predicament I put myself in. Did I feel safer helping him when he was at a point that he couldn’t move? After a few moments of rubbing his head, he looked me over, noticing that he was still holding onto my arm a bit tighter than I was comfortable with. I tried to hide the fact I was nervous, but he saw through it.

“Concerned?” His face gave away nothing as he watched me squirm under his gaze. I looked down to our arms again, realizing he was testing my resolve. I attempted to pull my arm away, but he held fast. I took a quick breath in and looked up at him again.

“A…a bit. I’m not sure how much trust to put in you yet...” He still held steady, but his grip didn’t tighten. Instead something crossed his face quickly and he turned away slightly.

“I know how much trust I’ve put with you, and as much it pains me to say it, I will need to ask it of you again.” My breath slowed again as I watched the different emotions flash across his eyes again. Shame, anger, and finally a hint of fear. It was hard to watch someone so proud fall so hard. I let my hand grip his arm again.

“What do you need?” I could hear him clench his jaw first.

“Assistance. As much as you can offer to get me on my feet again…then I will try to rest…” I looked over to the couch and figured that was where he wanted to be. Glancing back to him I nodded and got up on one foot and kneeled on my knee as I braced myself. He put his other hand down and used my leverage to get him to his knees, and then from there I pushed my shoulder under his arm and helped him up again, only this time he was a bit lighter and he had his stability back quickly. Once on his feet I turned and we quickly crossed the little bit to the couch where I was able to guide him down instead of throwing him down like last time. Once he was seated I quickly grabbed the laptop and watched as he stretched over the length of the furniture again. I almost cracked up at seeing how ridiculously tall he was as he took up the oversized sectional so easily. I had noted the other day when he was standing still that he was taller than almost everyone in the family, putting him at about six and a half feet, and that was without his armor. As he settled in I took my mug off of the end table and ditched it in the kitchen. I took the moment to free the dogs from the back room and let them run around outside. Coming back into the room I knelt down by the side of the couch and noticed his breaths weren’t whistling anymore. More improvements.

“I have noticed another ailment that has been bothering me.” He had my full attention with that one line and I tilted my head in a bit of shock. “The feeling of something caught in my throat was what caused the sounds.” He swallowed a bit harder after that line. “But it is difficult to describe.” I raised an eyebrow at the little bit I saw and made an assumption.

“Thirsty?”

His face scrunched a bit for a moment. “Is that what thirst feels like?” I laughed lightly.

“I’m no doctor, but it can’t hurt to try, right?” He made no acknowledgement but I went to the kitchen anyway and got out a glass and ice and filled it with filtered water. Bringing it to the room he sat up a bit on the couch when I handed it to him. He eyed the glass suspiciously.

“I’ve never had a need for sustenance. How does one drink without suffocating themselves?” I let the statement roll in my head for a moment, holding back my laughter at the ridiculousness of it. I cleared my throat before answering.

“Don’t breathe. If you’re nervous, take a breath and time it. Your body should just instinctively react. Don’t overthink it.” He looked back to the glass, leaned in and tipped it back. One swallow and his eyes shut as he pulled it back and coughed hard enough to make me jump, but I caught myself and braced in case he dropped the glass. Instead, he gathered his own wits and started at the glass. It was like he needed to process what happened before he took a breath and tipped it back again. No coughing this time, and in a few moments he drained the entire glass. He cleared his throat after a bit and finally broke the silence.

“That did help, but what an odd experience. Feeling the liquid being forced down…is hard to describe.” I laughed and took the glass from his hands. His expression when I laughed made it difficult to not laugh harder.

“See? Nothing to fret over, though I’ll admit, you’re the first to fear drowning over a glass of water…” He frowned at the joke.

“I did not ‘fear drowning’, I just didn’t know of the technique. I understand the concept now…” I juggled the glass in my hands and noted the changes in his eyes and demeanor. He was definitely more alert, but I didn’t want to push it.

“Feeling any better?” He nodded lightly as he flexed his hands a bit and settled back into the couch. Figuring that was going to be his location for the afternoon I stood and grabbed the laptop but as soon as I stepped around the corner I heard a small ‘um’ that made me look back to him. The look on his face grabbed my attention and I turned my body to face him.

“Leaving?” I was puzzled to say the least. Not ten minutes ago he was angry I was concerned for him, and now he was questioning why I was leaving.

“I didn’t think you’d want to be disturbed while recovering?” His arms came up over his middle and he shook his head.

“I do not need sleep, but the rest appears to be necessary. Your presence will not be a nuisance.” I rolled the idea in my head. Sure I wouldn’t be a nuisance, but that didn’t necessarily mean he _wanted_ me to stay. The question formed quickly and I didn’t even consider what I was even asking until I said it.

“Would you rather I stayed?” I quickly bit my tongue and regretted asking. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt an unwelcome answer was about to be thrown my way.

“I believe the appropriate response would be ‘do you trust me enough to stay’.” It felt like he was suddenly testing my level of trust, and I certainly wasn’t about to fail. Without hesitating I stepped back in the room and sat down on the floor and leaned up against the couch and opened my laptop back up and set it over my bent legs. As it came out of sleep mode I looked over my shoulder to his slightly amused look. “I recall seeing you have a small panic attack the last time you backed yourself into a similar situation.” I snorted a light laugh and looked back at the screen.

“I’ve beat you with a rock, carried you out of the woods and lent you another hand today…I think I’m over the whole ‘too close for comfort’ thing now.” There was that chuckle again. I felt a chill run down my spine that time.

“Your level of trust seems to be increasing with each day. I will admit I’m impressed with your bravery and ability to handle stressful situations. Your reaction time from the moment I fell was nearly instant.” His tone was hard to read for me at the moment, but not being able to read his body language was part of that. I decided that it was safe to carry on with the conversation.

“Well, I’ve already said I’m not afraid of you. But it has been tough to judge what a safe level of interaction with you is…” I ignored the screen on my lap and looked out through the front window instead, giving me something to rest my eyes on for a bit. “And my reflexes were because I was anticipating something would happen, I just didn’t know what until you stood up….” I stopped, fearing of treading on a subject he may or may not have wanted to discuss.

“You say you don’t fear me, yet you still hesitate with those questions you have claimed to have so many of. I am curious as to when those questions will surface. And also, any level of interaction is safe with me, I promised you that already.” I grinned a bit at my luck. If that wasn’t a green light to engage, then I didn’t know what was.

“Well ‘any’ level is up for interpretation; I certainly wouldn’t try to pick a fight with you…but those questions are more about your world in general. How things work mostly…”

“Like what? Give me one of your world’s ‘misconceptions’ you spoke of.” The first idea I had rolled of my tongue quickly.

“Power levels are always argued about. Some of us think they matter while others think they don’t. Whenever someone says ‘who would win’ and they put two fighters together, people always pick the higher power level. So even if someone had a clear disadvantage, is that what really decides a fight?” I dared to look over my shoulder, fearing of asking something that may have seemed to be common knowledge to him but was completely alien to us. His expression was certainly interesting; his brow was raised a bit and he stared back for a moment before blinking and shifting his angle so he faced me.

“Your world seems to be stuck on the mentality that power levels don’t change throughout a battle.”

“Well we do see that is possible; you say so yourself throughout some battles that you hold back and only bring out so much power at a time. But when it comes down to an all-out battle, would the higher power always win?” He shook his head.

“Not necessarily. Power can be concentrated and increased temporarily to get an edge over your opponent. You could say the one that has the most control over the power they do have can win the battle, even at a clear disadvantage.” Scenes from the series started to pop up in my head as examples of when this was actually being shown.

“Like when Tien was able to hold you back in your previous form?” He took a deep breath and I shrunk back a bit, worried about bringing up touchy subjects, but he nodded and continued.

“That moment is exactly one of those situations. I wasn’t necessarily being held back as much as I knew his body would give out eventually. I was biding my time. The technique he used drains directly from one’s life force; I myself would not use the technique unless absolutely necessary, and even so there are better options as last-resort moves.” I nodded in understanding, but still brought up the bigger issue.

“But even with that kind of control over his power, he couldn’t beat you. It was more like dragging out the inevitable.” He flashed that grin again at that statement.

“Well when it comes to me there are few that can keep up let alone beat me. But I do have another example where the power control mattered more at the moment. The Kamehameha Wave Goku used to catch me off-guard? He concentrated his power into a move I could not counter in time so I had to take the full brunt of the power. That was an excellent control of power level and technique, which is why I wanted to fight Goku in the tournament so dearly. His knowledge in combat is not to be taken lightly and proved to be a worthy challenge for me. Had I not been able to regenerate from the blast he would have surely won the fight. Alas, Piccolo’s cells pulled through for me yet again, proving that knowledge of your opponent could be the difference between a win and a loss.” I could feel myself being at ease with this conversation. His voice was still addicting to listen to despite his moments that were terrifying. More moments of fights kept flooding my head as more questions came up.

“So what about when two large blasts are competing against each other? Does power fluctuate then too?” His gaze narrowed as he was reminded of the future of his defeat. I heard his tongue click as he started.

“You must be referring to the future battle I was to be defeated in. If the blasts are similar enough in size and power, then yes they will stalemate and push against each other until one overrides the other. The control and power needed to create such a situation would have to be at a scale never seen in fighting history…” I turned away and grinned.

“Well I did say it was an awesome fight, right to the very end.” I leaned a bit back into the couch, satisfied with the answers I was given, and oddly enough enjoyed every moment of it. But I heard him make an odd sound and I turned up to him again.

“Who are some of these opponents that are questioned so much? Am I on this list?” I sighed; the biggest arguments on the internet were popping up, and one always stood out for me.

“Yeah, people always seem to think Broly would beat you, though I’m completely convinced otherwise now,” I laughed.

“Who is this ‘Broly’? Another fighter I have yet to meet?” His tone was very curious and not threatening at all. I was feeling the same excitement from the day I was telling him of his defeat.

“You should not meet him; as far as some of us know he is not a canon character to the series. But he is another pure sayajin that survived planet Vegeta’s destruction and somehow becomes a super sayajin in his own manner that ‘supposedly’ makes him much more powerful than the normal super sayajin transformation. So, naturally, they pit you against him and based on some made up numbers several pick him to win.” The look he gave me was giving me the oddest feeling as he was clearly readying himself for another question.

“Who do you think would win?” I held my gaze with his for a moment. How should I really answer this?

“You’re sitting right here; who do you think I’m going to pick?” My tone was sarcastic and I had a huge smile across my face, but it was also my serious answer. I’d pit Cell up against almost every opponent save for perhaps Majin Buu, who I hated with a passion as a villain.

“And how did you come to this conclusion? Based on power? Or other reasons?” I had just started to notice his personality starting to show up again despite his little bout of exhaustion earlier. The water must have helped more than he expected it to.

“I have my reasons. But you seem to be doing a lot better now. You might want to look into pacing yourself with your training.” He shifted in his spot again, leaning his head back on the armrest and taking a deep breath, probably sorting out his condition. After a moment he looked back down to me again.

“It would appear so, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Looks like you need more practice with ‘changing the subject’. Now, what reasons did you have for my victory?”

“Well it’s easy. You’re…” I half-halted and caught myself, “the best. You come off as the more strategic fighter and Broly…well he is more like a child with more power than he knows how to handle.” His brow rose a bit.

“You hesitated with that one. What other reasons?” I felt the looming feeling of his curiosity bearing down on me. I held strong and gave him the answer I felt always finished the fight.

“Well if he cuts your head off, wait a couple minutes and you’ll be back in the fight. Cut Broly’s head off…well, game over.” And that was it for me. Cell’s regenerative abilities have saved him in EVERY single overpowered battle he found himself in. I heard a light ‘hmph’ and he gave me a small smirk again.

“That’s a fair conclusion.” It was quiet for a bit after that. I pulled up the websites I wanted to browse through and he relaxed on the couch again. I wasn’t sure what else to ask him about, but I did feel that much more comfortable asking him questions now. I truly feared bothering him to the point that he would get aggressive and, while not kill me, definitely put me through hell.

But it started to feel like he welcomed it.

The pressure I normally felt from him being so close was barely noticeable now. I wondered if that was more self-prophesized rather than him actually feeling threatening. He certainly didn’t act like he was trying to give off that vibe. I nearly forgot about him being on the couch as I sat on the floor, tapping though the comments section on Facebook. I found myself in the middle of a debate on politics in a forum thread that had popped up in my newsfeed. With each ignorant statement I found myself getting deeper and deeper into the battles, finding my fingers flying across the keyboard and my internal temperature rising. I was typing out entire paragraphs by the end of my first debates until I was finally snapped out of it.

“You do realize hitting the keys harder does not make your argument better?” I jolted upright as soon as his voice cut through my thoughts, and my argument suddenly vanished from my mind as I looked at him.

“Ugh, sorry. I get into these kinds of fights all the time and waste so much time arguing... It’s never worth it and yet I keep at it. It’s like the only way to vent sometimes.” I looked back at the computer, deleted the paragraph I wrote and closed out that tab.

“I find a good fight to be a better form of venting stress.” I looked away from the keyboard again, but ended up looking out the front window again.

“I’m sure it is…for someone trained in fighting. For ‘keyboard warriors’ like me, putting me in a real fight would be a waste of time.”

“A ‘keyboard warrior’?” I giggled at the confused question.

“Yeah, it’s basically expressing opinions on the internet in a debate, only some people are less educated or less informed about the topic so it ends up turning into name-calling and getting off-topic. I am pretty opinionated about quite a few controversial topics, so I find myself going at it way more than I should. If I just ignored it life would be a lot less infuriating…”

“What particular topics? Anything actually worth fighting over?” I shook my head sadly.

“Nah, politics and economics, both of which are based on the less-popular opinion. A few side ones too, like pet ownership and personal freedoms, but obviously not worth the time fighting over. If my opinion was right and everyone agreed, we wouldn’t have debates in the first place.” He didn’t say anything after that and I was pretty happy he dropped it. I didn’t want to get into political debates with him; I’d walk away crying for sure. I kept scrolling through my newsfeed, happy to see friends and family having fun in their lives, but I quietly giggled at the thought that none of them were having near as much excitement in their lives as I was now.

“You don’t come off to me as an ignorant human; if anything I’ve found your intellect to be quite entertaining and fairly well-informed. Course I am limited in our conversations but you seem to be very open-minded.” I felt a mix of both flattery and confusion wash over me. It was such a polar opposite reaction than when he was still in the woods. I laughed and looked over my shoulder again.

“Funny, I recall the statement ‘I thought your intellect showed greater promise than that’ from you not too long ago,” I finished with a tilt of my head and a very devious grin of my own. His own flashed back.

“That was before any…structured conversations. I’ve learned a great deal from you in just the way you converse with me.” I blinked in my stunned state.

“Well I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to and very easy to read too…Coworkers always knew if I was having a rough day at work.” I wasn’t ashamed of it. My tone of voice can tell someone everything they wanted to know: how I felt and what to expect from me. My body language always reflected it too, so one would have to be completely blind to not know what was going on in my head. He huffed again as he made it clear he was going to engage again.

“You are very easy to read. You word your questions carefully as if you fear offending me. And you seem to be at ease more when you feel you are in control of the conversation. As soon as you feel challenged you back down immediately, which is quite the opposite of what you demonstrated in your little ‘debate’ on the computer.” I was a bit shocked he put the two together. I didn’t dare challenge him, but any other human on the planet; bring it.

“I do fear offending you, so yes, I do choose my words very carefully and will only ask questions I feel are well thought out. One wrong statement that ends with you backhanding me would land me in the hospital for a week,” I laughed. He sighed loudly.

“I have made it very clear I will not harm you.” I had no problem locking my eyes with his for this part.

“It’s still you. And you are way too proud to take any flak from a human female, so while you can promise the world, I will still tread lightly around you. Compared to me you are far superior. I don’t risk challenging you.” With that I turned back to the computer again and logged out. I shut the laptop and set it aside, not really sure what to do from here. My thoughts didn’t get to travel far as he cut back in again.

“Why do you respect me so much? After all I have done to humans in my world I find it difficult to understand how you don’t abhor me in this world.” I dismissed his idea with a light waive of my hand as I responded.

“What you have done in your world has no effect on mine as long as you keep your promise. And I can’t fault you for doing exactly what you were written to do: be the villain and a damn good one too.” His response started with a disagreeing groan and his tone got snarkier.

“What I was ‘written’ to do… Hard to believe my entire life has been following the puppeteering of a master higher than the one that created me. I thought I was following Dr. Gero’s wishes; instead I was following the doomed plans of an entertainer.” I did feel pretty sick hearing that depressing notion again even after he himself admitted that the plans have obviously changed since he was brought here. But the idea that everything he was doing before was not of his own ambition but of someone that wrote him specifically for their ambitions must still have been tough to swallow. Almost like how the Matrix was a world designed to cover another world.

“Well, the only reason it bothers you is because you’re aware of this world now. Had nothing changed you would have followed through the fights, gotten yourself killed and no one would have been the wiser. Would you have rather not known of our world?” I looked up to him again, and his eyes looked away after a moment, contemplating his answer. He looked back with a small frown.

“I’m not sure. While I do prefer knowing I have the chance to alter the future, I am still unsure of how I would change it. Or if I am even capable of changing it at all.” My face changed in a bit of shock.

“You don’t think you would turn down the fight that kills you?” He was quiet. I turned back away, worried I overstepped boundaries again. I kept reminding myself he said there was nothing to worry about, but I still feared it. Out of nervous habit I bit down on the skin on my knuckle, giving me a small distraction to quell the shakes I was feeling in my gut.

“I don’t know.” His tone was hushed and uncertain at best. I truly did feel some sympathy for him now. This had to be the hardest situation to wrap his head around, and when he did return to his world he would be the only one that knew it. How in the world was he going to save himself from a future that may already be set in motion?

I couldn’t take the uncertain air anymore. I needed fresh air and to make sure the dogs weren’t getting into trouble. I stood up, stretched my legs and started around the corner before I turned to look at him. His eyes met mine for the moment and I said what I needed to say.

“I’d rather you lived. Find a way.” After I took a frustrated breath he responded.

“I would rather that too.” And that was it. I felt my lips go dry and I walked away, heading for the bedroom to dress and spend my day trying to think of anything other than the future that wasn’t going to change.

Thanks for reading! All feedback is welcomed and appreciated!


	8. A Gun Show and Rules of the Internet

Chapter 8

A Gun Show and Rules of the Internet

A loud, obnoxious alarm ringing in my ears made me flip in the bed and grab the phone to hit the ‘dismiss’ button. It read 7 am. I rushed out of bed and started my latte quickly to get the day going.

It was Saturday. I had received a few texts the night before confirming the outing before setting the alarm so it wasn’t a wasted venture. I hurried with the dogs and made sure they had a big breakfast and quickly slipped my shoes and hoodie on to head out to the backyard. As soon as I opened the door they bolted past me and I realized a bit too late that Cell had beat me out the door.

The dogs flew up to his feet as he was in the middle of his routine again and I started calling them before they got closer than they should, but thankfully it didn’t matter. He stopped moving and the pair stopped as he gave them a look that kept them from approaching him. I whistled again and they trotted back up to me, tails wagging but clearly disappointed that he wasn’t there to play with them. I shooed them off to go play together and walked up to the now-energized android.

“You’re up early,” he started first. The slightly chipper tone was a nice change for him. I smiled as I approached.

“I could say the same for you. I didn’t think you were going to push yourself so soon.” His arms came up across his chest. Apparently that was going to be his neutral pose whenever we spoke now.

“This is hardly pushing myself; I made a full recovery before nightfall.” His proud self was back in full swing, but thankfully I felt no pressure talking with him this time. It was clear our conversations yesterday finally broke that last barrier for me.

“I see that now. Can we keep it that way? You’re not the easiest to catch…” I remarked in a fairly sweet manner, trying to keep the incident as subtle as possible. He sighed at the reminder.

“I will monitor myself with more care, and I owe you yet another apology for my actions and thank you for your patience. It is hard to tell who is tolerating who now.” His tone softened and I couldn’t help the cute smile I gave him.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been told I have the patience of a saint. And you’re bound to have more than a few hiccups. You learn from them, we move on…” I hugged my arms at my elbows and shrugged to show my content with the situation. It really wasn’t that big of a deal aside from his collapsing episode.

“At this rate I could end up owing you more than just an agreement to not destroy your planet. It’s quite the odd experience for someone of my position.” At first I was surprised by the joking tone of his voice, but despite the unexpectedness of it, I found myself giggling anyway.

“Like I said, no biggie.” He shifted his stance and set his head to the side a bit.

“So what brought you out at this hour? This is at least an hour sooner than expected.”

“I have plans with my brother today. We head out at noon so I’m getting started early.” This definitely piqued his curiosity.

“The brother that came out last time?” I nodded in response, but suddenly felt a little apprehensive about leaving him in the house to his own devices for the day.

“We have quite a bit planned, so I’ll be out pretty late. You’ll have to find a way to keep yourself from getting too bored. Think you can manage?” I was trying to be a bit coy with my wording. I really didn’t worry about him getting bored, but I did wonder what he would investigate on his own while I was gone. Apparently he saw through my little plan with the small smirk that popped up.

“Guess you’ll see when you get back.” Feeling the challenge rise I held my head up a bit higher and walked by him towards the barn.

“Oh just figured if you needed any ideas I could offer some suggestions, but if you’re content then be my guest.” I heard the dogs cross the yard and stay at my heels as I went through the gate to meet the lumbering pair waiting patiently for their food. I really didn’t think my little attempt at rustling his feathers worked until I came out of the barn a few minutes later to see him resting his arms over the wooden fence. I felt my breath stop for a moment as I noticed how much more human he looked in that pose. The photo it could make would have been worthy of fashion magazines, if he only had a shirt on…

“If you plan to taunt me with information then you better be ready when I decide to call you out on it.” I was never the type of girl to swoon, but the look his eyes were giving me nearly put me to the ground. They followed my movement as I put my arms over and leaned on the fence as well but staying in the paddock.

“So are you calling me out on it?” my expression reflected the sing-song tone I used. I waited as his expression changed from devious to curious.

“I can see what you’re doing, and I must admit it is quite clever. You’re baiting me with the prospect of knowledge and are hoping I bite…” I giggled at his reserved demeanor. It was adorable. For him, anyway.

“I didn’t think it was that obvious…my bad.” He was suddenly taken aback and his shocked look nearly shocked me.

“‘My bad?’, that’s a new one…” I started laughing and almost felt sorry for using the phrase.

“Oh, guess I really didn’t think that one out. Did it really just go over your head?” His face fell into a flat irritated look.

“Do not talk so down to me Miss Erika, there are many things of the universe I do know, but your world’s ‘trendy phrases’ were not something I was programmed with.”

I quickly expressed my apologies, “Hey now, I wasn’t trying to do that, I just don’t know what phrases I can use now without confusing you…I had a foreign professor in college I did that to, but you’re not the same type of ‘foreign’.” He calmed down fairly quickly after that.

“Alright, I suppose I could have just asked what the phrase meant instead. Care to elaborate?”

“It’s nothing offensive; it’s just a quick and goofier version of an apology. Course normally it’s used sarcastically or whenever something really stupid happens, but don’t dwell on it. There’s no real meaning behind it.” He took the explanation easily enough, but clearly had more questions he wanted to ask.

“Should I prepare for more of these phrases your world has created? It’s almost like learning a different language here.”

“Nah, majority of it is on the internet. And Urban Dictionary is amazing if you ever get tripped up. A lot of our parents were thankful for that site when they got involved with the internet culture… So just roll with them until you’re used to them.” He nodded and turned to look out across the fields.

“So what is this ‘bait’ you are taunting me with? I thought you showed me everything that had to do with my world’s existence already?”

“Oh not even close! There are movies and games, and the fandom is insane. I just wanted to start with the earliest sources so you had the origins down. Anything after that either gets repetitive or isn’t canon, which I argue is worse than repetition…” I was thankful for the first night I showed him all of the videos and clips from the anime since I was able to show him the differences between the two animes and then the differences from the books later on. He caught on to the word ‘canon’ quickly and understood our frustrations with filler and plot holes. Since he was from another timeline that we didn’t follow altogether, he was unable to confirm any of my filler suspicions, much to my disappointment. I guess I would never know if Piccolo ever learned to drive a car.

“The movies and games are not of any interest to me if they do not contribute, but what of this ‘fandom’ you speak of? What exactly does that word mean?” he turned back toward me.

“Well, fandom is the following something gets. Like a group of people that like to discuss a topic or debate it and analyze it if they have way too much time on their hands. DBZ has had a huge following since it debuted because it was one of the first animes to reach networks outside of Japan.”

“Topics such as the power level debate you asked about yesterday?”

I nodded, “That and probably much more about how other things work too, like how it seems like everyone has the potential to use energy if they train hard enough, but no one has managed it in this world. Several wonder if it is something we could ever achieve if it was possible.” He sighed and leaned more into the fence.

“This world seems to be very limiting in every category. My power seems to either be completely gone or possibly ‘switched off’ by the limits of your world. Stacking on the need for rest and possibly water to keep from collapsing is making me fear what other rules this world has for me.” I shook my head sadly.

“I don’t know,” I sighed, “but we will figure them out. You’ve done well so far all considered.” He ‘tsked’ his frustrations.

“It feels as though this world has turned me into a human just to mock the fact I was supposed to be humanity’s greatest fear…” I laughed aloud at his statement and he glared at me in return. “Why would that be funny?”

“It’s not funny, it’s that it’s not true. It’s pretty easy to see you’re not human, at least to me anyway. So you’ve been given a few human restrictions, but that does not knock you down to our level.” He was quiet, his eyes showing some suspicion, and he focused his gaze a bit.

“You don’t believe I’ve been changed to a human despite the issues I’ve clearly had to endure?” I shook my head again.

“Nah, not one bit. Just because you look a bit like it doesn’t make you one. And besides, there would have been many more clues. Needing rest once a week is _not _a human quality and neither does needing water only once a week. You would have collapsed a _lot _sooner had you been human.” He went from frustrated to unsure very quickly after that.

“Really? I thought humans were a very hardy species for resources?” My eyes widened at the assumption, and while it was probably accurate to some extent, it was hardly realistic either.

“Oh we can be, but going that long without them would cripple any human even in peak condition. Gosh, even our military boys would drop from lack of hydration if they’re put in terrible conditions, and they’re trained to push beyond their normal limits. Normal humans wouldn’t have stood a chance in your situation. And your armor would have been a huge issue if you were human too. You would have been dealing with broken bones with that kind of weight.” He stared back for a moment, and then grinned.

“Glad to hear you humans are still as pathetic as the ones I left behind in my world.”

My head hit the fence.

“Thanks, that’s very sweet of you,” my voice deadpanned. My heart fluttered as soon as I heard his addictive chuckle.

“You’re quite welcome.” His tone nearly had me laughing again, but instead I picked my head back up and looked back to the house. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he would be into dark and insulting types of humor. Though I did have to admit, that was kind of funny. I unhooked the latch on the gate and stepped out of the paddock. He pulled away from the fence as I locked it up and crossed him arms again.

“So what of the fandom category is there to observe? I assume this will also be on the internet as that has been your main source for almost everything else.” I turned back to him and wrapped my arms around my waist.

“Yeah, it’s all on the internet. The fandom creates alternate universes with stories, doujinshis, artwork and other neat stuff.” The looks he kept giving me were clearly a mix of curiosity but holding back as to not look excited. I must have been baiting him just right to get these reactions.

“Does anything tread along the lines of crossing world dimensions? At this point I may theorize that one of these ‘fandoms’ may have created this situation by accident.” I scrunched my face in a bit of doubtful thought.

“Eh, unlikely, but I wouldn’t write it off. I haven’t read enough stories to really say if something like this has been done or not.” He was quiet, looking as if he was contemplating the statement, but didn’t continue the engagement. I took a step back to the house and gestured to him with my arm. “Sorry to interrupt your practice, we will get out of the way,” and the dogs followed me back to the house. I only got a few steps in.

“Not interested in watching this time? You seemed so intrigued the past few days,” I turned to see the grin he wore in his own attempt to bait me. I made a sarcastic huff as he called me out on my curiosity.

“I was only catching glimpses,” I turned my nose up a bit. Saying I was ‘watching’ made it seem like I was being a creeper in the bushes…not that I would go to _those _lengths to watch him train, but I wouldn’t mind an opportunity to observe. His head leaned a bit to the side.

“You have made it clear you enjoy watching our fights on the show, so why pass it up now? This must be quite the opportunity for you.” My pulse rose quickly at the suggestion. First I was taunted with watching the other day, and now he offers me a chance to watch first-hand? The temptation was clawing at me eagerly. I pressed my lips to a firm line as I prepared for the taunts again.

“Only if it doesn’t bother you. You’re allowed to have privacy too,” I hesitated a bit; I didn’t want him to feel that being under my roof meant I needed to know exactly what he was doing at any point of the day. I was _not_ that kind of roommate. He made a light ‘humph’ at my timid response and took several steps away from the fence.

“Please, if I were modest would the tournament have been announced as a public event? And would I have allowed any reporters to live to broadcast it?” His face definitely reflected the pride he held for his games becoming a televised event to bring the fear of the fight to everyone’s homes. I turned and made my way for the door and opened it to let the dogs through only to shut it behind them and turn on my heel. After taking several steps I slipped my hands into my hoodie and bent a knee in a relaxed pose.

“You’re right; I can’t turn that down,” I smiled. His arms came undone and he flexed them a bit. He really needed to stop doing that or I would end up being too distracted to converse again. He flashed a small grin before he spoke.

“Would you hold that stance for me?” I blinked a few times pondering that request.

“Um, sure? What for…?” I barely got the line out as his body shifted and his leg flew over my head, then the other in a fluid motion before he leapt in the air and swiped over my head again with the other leg. I had tensed up in that moment, but my reaction time was pathetic. He landed smoothly as I remembered from the first day, but I suddenly felt the shiver run down my spine and I finally gasped loudly and I took a small step back. “Holy…thanks for the warning!” my eyes blinked rapidly in surprise.

“You held still,” he causally tossed out the line. I let my shock settle before I responded.

“As if I could have moved if I wanted to! That was way too fast for me to react…!” I felt another shudder run through me. As he shifted into another stance I tensed up again, “Oh no, you start throwing punches I’m just gonna close my eyes.” His head lowered a bit in another laugh and straightened his stance.

“Oh no, I’m quite content with that reaction. I have come to enjoy testing the trust you have given me.” I sighed and shook my head.

“Am I gonna start regretting it?”

“Only if you give me a reason to.”

I took the statement as it was and tried to relax again. He took a few steps back and stiffened his body again. I didn’t know if I needed to brace again, but I fell back another step in response anyway.

“Relax, I got what I wanted. Had you panicked and ran I would have known how strong-willed your curiosity was. Now that you’ve proven yourself, what would you like to see?” I clammed up; I really didn’t know what to ask, but I knew I enjoyed watching the execution of moves. A few fights from MMA came to mind when I thought about what I’ve already seen but even that barely compared to what he could do.

“Nothing specific, but only cause I don’t know what to ask. Do you have a routine you go through?” He nodded in response. He took a few more steps back to create some distance between us. I shifted my weight and relaxed my other leg as I realized he wasn’t going to use me as a practice dummy again. He took a breath in before he slipped into a lower stance and focused his gaze forward, not on my position thankfully. I don’t think I could handle being stared at as he trained.

The sudden sweeping motions caught my eye as his leg moved forward, back around again into a different stance that let him bring his other leg over and around again. My eyes widened as he took to the air again and pulled each leg around in a kick before landing. He turned his body so he could step forward and executed two full forward kicks in the air before landing the leap. The flexibility in his kicks alone was insane; his legs were nearly vertical for each movement. He spun around and shifted into a front flip that was intended to be a kick as he only landed on one foot and the other seemed to follow a split second later. His height made everything that much more intimidating as he was able to get that much air between him and the ground. I was mesmerized for a moment as each movement only took seconds to do. He shifted his stance again and took a breath before relaxing and turning back to me.

“Impressed?”

I couldn’t hold back the excitement or my giddy response as I gasped quickly, “Beyond impressed! ...there are no words to describe that!” I caught the flash of a smile before his stance lowered to a crouch.

“This is nothing; I can go much faster.”

Almost an hour passed by with the display I was invited to watch. And he certainly wasn’t exaggerating his speed; it almost seemed a bit out of control, but he landed every jump, kick, and flip he demonstrated with what seemed like little effort in my eyes. I’m sure it was much tougher to leap without his power to help, but it was borderline flying to me. He worked in a series of punches and motions with his arms that almost looked routinely practiced. The variety of movements constantly kept me guessing too. His little demo ended with a form he took with his hands and he closed his eyes with a deep sigh. My adrenaline had kicked in and now I was wide awake for the day. I could get up early every morning if this was the show I would be promised. As he approached I couldn’t help the giddy smile I flashed.

“Thank you, I think I could watch that all day!”

“I knew you wouldn’t turn the offer down. It was just a matter of time before you gave in to your curiosity.” I turned on my heel and headed for the door once he was alongside me. “Do you take an interest in fighting since our world was one you seem to have observed regularly?” I must have felt damn comfortable around him now as I actually put a skip in my walk for that question.

“Oh yeah, the fights are what we watched it for! It was agonizing waiting for a battle that we knew was coming!” As we got to the door he stopped and looked at me right as I reached for the handle.

“Hm, you misinterpreted that question…” My hand held the handle but I turned to look up to him with a quizzical look.

“What do you mean?” He looked down to me with a raised brow.

“I suppose I meant if you studied and enjoyed fighting yourself and not just watching.” I gave him a blank stare.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never fought.” He seemed a bit stunned for a moment.

“The strength you have to lift me doesn’t develop from yoga, so what training have you done?” I motioned towards the horses.

“You cannot be a wimp and have 1000 lb animals. Those brats can haul me across the pasture if I don’t hold my ground. And hay isn’t exactly light either. Load up a few hundred bales a season and you learn to handle the weight.”

“But you’ve never needed to defend yourself?” I shook my head.

“Nah, but I think if I ever needed to I could. I’ve almost had to, but the guy was so drunk we were able to just walk away and he didn’t bother us,” I shrugged. “It’s much easier and smarter to just be observant and avoid trouble.” He took my answer with just a simple ‘hm’ and left it at that. I opened the door and headed back inside for breakfast and a shower. Two more hours passed when I finally came out of the bedroom dressed in my jeans and a cute top with a matching full-zip sweater. I even dared to don some jewelry as I had my favorite bracelet and necklace combo on. My long hair was nearly dry as I rounded the corner to see Cell in his usual spot in front of the fireplace. I sat down on the couch and pulled up my laptop to check through my favorite websites real quick before Zack showed up.

“I believe it would be of interest to go through some of this ‘fandom’ work you spoke of. I would like to make sure no option is left unchecked.” I looked up from my seat and saw his meditative pose was broken as he looked up to me with his arms relaxing on his legs. Acknowledging the request I shifted and motioned him over to the couch. As he sat I pulled up the first two sources I frequented, making sure to log off my names on both to keep him from snooping too much. I pulled up the first tab and flipped it toward him.

“DeviantArt.com? An art site?” I was glad he made the connection quickly.

“Yup, this is where a ton of the fandom goes to post some pretty cool art. Most of it is fairly decent, but you’ll see amateurs that don’t really belong here too. You just have to sort through it carefully.” I handed him the laptop and he gave me an odd look as he balanced it in his hands.

“This seems fairly easy to navigate…a search function will make this easier. But what key words to use…”

“Well DBZ is an easy tag to start with, but that will give you thousands of hits, so narrow it down. Try your name. You’ll get a kick out of what you find there. Pull up the other tab too.” As he did the page flipped and he read off that site too.

“Fanfiction.net? Fiction implies writing…” I really enjoyed how much he figured out on his own. Thank goodness his brain cells did _not _come from Goku. That would have made this a miserable experience to explain.

“Yup, this is where those alternate universes get ‘created’, but there are so many poorly-written pieces out there I would be mortified if they were creating other worlds at the same time…hell even I might have to go delete a few old pieces if it were true…” That line seemed to get his attention.

“You’re published on here as well?”

“Hardly. Just a few one-shot scenes, not entire stories. Nothing to bother with.” I wasn’t worried; he would never figure out the old penname I used to write under in high school and I had long since forgotten the password to access the account. I motioned him to pull up the last tab I had and the screen flashed again.

“Google? It’s just a search bar. What kind of site is this?” I laughed at his apprehension at such a bland site.

“The best one. It’s a search engine. Type in anything and if it exists, it will find it. Google is pretty much the best at everything.” He clicked between the three tabs again and I noticed his fingers fly across the keyboard. I looked up to see it was on DA and the results nearly had me choking; he went straight into it and searched his own name. Immediately hundreds of drawings, cartoons and animations came up and I heard his breath inhale sharply.

“Well this is…unexpected…” His eyes were a bit wide, but after the initial shock passed he started scrolling through the pictures that kept coming up. I noticed the occasional lag in the load times, but he was patient and let it load. “This site is coded so poorly…” he shook his head as he continued to scroll down. I leaned back and took my phone out of my purse and looked down. I had missed a text.

_‘On my way. Hope it’s not too early.” _Just as I noticed the time it was sent the dogs suddenly flew into the room and put their paws on the windowsill, barking and wagging their tails wildly. I grabbed my purse quickly and ran to the front door where my wedge sandals were set for me to slip into. I grabbed for the door handle and looked back over my shoulder. He had stopped scrolling and watched as I ran for the door.

“That’s a bit early. Anything else I should know about these sites?” I thought real quick before a few real issues came to mind.

“Yeah, stay away from anything labeled ‘Rule 34’, ‘Rule 63’, ‘hentai’ or ‘yaoi’. Anything else that doesn’t make sense just bookmark and I can explain later.” He looked down at the laptop again and I turned to the door to see Zack walking up to the door. Not wanting him to get too close to the door I quickly stepped out, “Just have some fun with it, and don’t take the jokes too seriously!” With that I turned on my heel and pulled the door shut behind me. Zack stopped only a few feet from me as I shut the door.

“Ready? I thought for sure I would beat you,” he laughed. I grinned and pulled the keys out and handed them to him.

“Hah, I was up way before you were and you know it!” He nodded and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, probably.” And with that we hopped into my blue Dart and headed out.

Our first stop was at the first major city for lunch. It was our favorite Chinese restaurant and we craved it for many months but never set the time aside to make the trip. Most of the time we spent talking was about school, work, potential jobs and things he had done over the past month. He had an internship with a local car dealership for the past year and was applying for better jobs weeks before graduation with no bites yet. We kept our fingers crossed even in this tough economy. The eldest brother got his divorce finalized and dad was still enjoying his time at work even though he was more than capable of retiring now. I didn’t blame him; being home does eventually get lonesome with no one to do anything with.

We hit up the first mall we had planned out and played in our favorite shops. When we stopped in a few men’s shops I couldn’t help my mind wondering what Cell would look like if we found clothes that fit him correctly. I giggled at some of the more gaudy pieces, but found myself looking over the more casual outfits with interest. ‘As if I could get him in public long enough to even try them on…’ I dismissed the idea.

Zack found a few new items that he couldn’t resist and we walked out with our first bags in hand. I hadn’t gone out and spoiled in over a year, so this was the first time I got to see the new clothes for the summer. I found a very sexy sports bra and crop set with a light tank to drape over it and got excited over hitting up the rail trail in it with our rollerblades again this summer. The next mall was an outdoor mall and we were thankful for the sunny weather we got to enjoy it in. We killed the next hours there easily and found nothing that we needed to have, so we packed up and headed for the last town on our list. It was a local tourist town with tons of custom shops to browse from. We stopped by the winery and found a few we recognized and picked up several for both us and the dog kennel household. After we picked up some other local treats we realized it was after 6 already. We didn’t plan anything for dinner so we picked out the local pizzeria and ordered to our heart’s content.

The sun was setting as we headed home. It felt great to get away and enjoy some familiar company for the day. I almost wished I didn’t need to head back home just to go and visit with dad and the eldest brother for a bit, but I was starting to worry about leaving a weapon that could lose his temper over something simple at my home alone all night. I silently hoped the house was still in one piece when we got back.

Pulling into the driveway I got the biggest relief I didn’t realize I needed as the dogs popped in the window to welcome us back. We pulled the bags out of the car and he handed me back my keys.

“Thanks for letting me drive; it’s much more fun than my car!” I took the keys and wrapped my arms in a big hug around him. He squeezed back for a long moment and then turned to head to his own car. I stayed in the driveway a bit longer as he loaded up the couple bags he had.

He turned to me as he closed the door, “We needed to do this way sooner.” I nodded and shuffled the few bags I had in my hand.

“Yeah, it’s been a great day to just…let everything go. The past week alone has been worthy of being a novel. Hopefully it doesn’t last long.” He eyed the house behind me.

“This visitor isn’t being a bum or anything is he? You know what it took to get Evan to break out of his slump and move on…” I smiled and nodded.

“Well, I’m sure the divorce made it tougher to stay motivated. I’d be pretty done with life too with a succubus of a woman like that…” The frown on his face deepened at the reminder of that mess. “I’m just glad it’s over and we got him to try again. Took a lot of money and way too much alcohol, but hey, at least he didn’t go back to her,” we laughed together. I picked the bags up off of the ground and headed back up the driveway to the garage door, waiving as he backed out.

I stepped through the door and headed straight to the bedroom once the dogs scuttled around the corner in an overly excited greeting. I dropped the clothes on the bed and took the last bag of wine to the fridge and headed back to the main room to see how Cell held up for the day.

I barely rounded the corner again only to find him standing right there again, arms crossed and his face clearly furious. I was getting better at predicting this moment and caught myself from slamming into him or falling to the floor again.

“Uh oh, you don’t look thrilled…” His one eye twitched in clear annoyance and he motioned to the laptop on the couch.

“What the HELL is wrong with your world?!” I felt both my heart sink and my mind race through the things he could possibly be pissed about.

“Oh great, what did you find?” I narrowed my gaze and folded my arms over my chest. If he didn’t take my warning seriously then that was his fault, not mine. He stormed over to the couch and pulled the laptop up for me to see. I didn’t need even a second before I lowered my head and covered my eyes with my hand.

“Did I NOT say stay away from Rule 34!? I thought I made that clear!” He set the laptop back down on the couch and stormed back up to me; thankfully I still kept my head buried in my hand.

“The fact that it EXISTS is downright insulting! I demand it be removed this instant!” I shot my head up to meet his glare and gave him an incredulous look.

“Oh HILARIOUS! You cannot make something ‘disappear’ once it’s on the web! And it’s going to exist whether you want it gone or not! That is literally the definition of Rule 34!” He huffed and turned away for a moment, but his eyes slowly moved back to meet mine again.

“You knew about this? You knew this existed?” My glare stayed firm with his.

“Why do you think I WARNED you?” His teeth clenched and he stormed off a few paces, but then turned and stormed back up to me. It almost looked like he was pacing between me and the laptop. He stopped again and pointed to the laptop furiously.

“That is a downright insult to my perfection and is absolutely outrageous!” The look on his face nearly bordered on utter terror and my composure fell apart as I let a giggle slip out from under my hand. His face quickly turned to shock.

“You think this is _funny_?” I shook my head as I waited for the giggles to stifle.

“More just your reaction. I honestly expected you to be a bit more professional and just ignore it…” Another grin made its way up on me and I turned away, slightly shamed that I was enjoying his utter lack of composure over the ‘beauty’ of the internet. He fumed once again and straightened his pose.

“I find it very difficult to be ‘professional’ when the subject matter is yourself in such obscene situations…” I stopped laughing and found my voice of reason come back from the grave.

“Well, consider it even then. You did absorb humans as your first source of energy.” My brow rose a bit as he sighed. If we couldn’t beat him in battle, then we most certainly could beat him with our perverted minds. I was almost certain that if he had his power right now my laptop would be at the bottom of a very large crater…along with a good portion of the planet. The image played through my mind and I busted out giggling again. He shot me another venomous glare and I set my hand to my hip.

“Oh please, you don’t get even a percentage of the attention Goku and Vegeta get…if Vegeta saw any of this he would be demanding where this ‘internet’ thing was and how big of a blast it would take to destroy it. Goku would probably be laughing along with me…” His frustrations were still clearly there, but I could read something more turning in his head. There was definitely something else bothering him. I brushed past him to sit down on the couch and possibly close out the tabs that had him so distraught, but he turned to face me and an odd sound rose from his throat. I glanced up and his eyes darted to the side.

“Honestly…why am I paired with Frieza so much? There was an overwhelming majority…” I looked down to the page and sure enough, it was a page covered with a good portion of him and Frieza in compromising positions. I looked up and sighed.

“In all honesty, I don’t know.” I was never bothered by any of the art or stories of them as a slash pair, but it wasn’t something I sought out either. I turned back and closed the first tab, but the other few that were still sitting there caught my eye.

“The art was more respectable on the DeviantArt site. While several were a bit inaccurate in scale and design, majority were still flattering.” He took his seat and faced me with a leg crossed over the seat while the other stayed on the floor. I equally shifted so I could face him as well sitting cross-legged instead.

“Oh, so this kind of art is okay? That’s awfully judgmental for someone that should be impervious to shame,” I quipped. My tone was definitely challenging his stance on the topic. The flat expression he wore made it clear he did not take the teasing lightly.

“I have no shame in my design, but I am slightly…disappointed…in some human tastes.” I held back giggling again and turned the laptop so I could set it down between us.

“So, anything that you wanted to know more about? Or have you had enough today?” I taunted with a small grin. He reached out and with a quick swipe across the touchpad he closed out the window. The surprise showed on my face for sure; I thought he kept the pages up to discuss them. Instead he closed the laptop down and brought his attention back to me.

“Actually there is a more pressing topic I wish to discuss that just made itself clear.” I brought my hands under my chin and leaned a bit forward.

“Okay, shoot.” He took a breath in, contemplating his wording.

“When I find that you have told a lie it should be expected that I would want an explanation as to why you felt the need to hide the truth.” I felt my breath slow and I stared back; what lie did I openly tell him?

“You may need to clarify…I don’t know what I’ve lied about.”

“The young man you have claimed to be a ‘brother’; it is clear he is not. His eyes are blue; yours are dark brown. His hair color doesn’t match yours and as far as I can see neither of you have modified it. And the general features between you two are so far apart that it is genetically impossible for you two to share any genes. Now, who is he really and why did you feel the need to lie?” I was in utter shock. My jaw fell a bit slack and I felt my pulse go through the roof.

“Why would something like that bother you?” He kept his glare on me and I felt he was about to go on another intimidating rampage.

“You already hide certain truths from me, but I cannot ignore an outright lie. Especially since I have nothing to hide from you.” I pulled my hands back and sat up and felt the tightening in my chest again.

“Well he is my brother; that is no lie.” He flinched at my tone.

“Impossible. Now explain yourself.”

“He’s not my brother by blood; he is by law.” I felt my defensive side coming out of the ashes. I haven’t had to bring up this topic in so long I didn’t feel ready for it yet.

“By law? You mean the legal binding contract humans make in the partnership you call marriage?” I nodded slowly, feeling my throat tighten more with each passing second. “That would imply you have a partner. As far as I’ve seen you live alone.” I had to get this out quickly; my time holding my composure was running out.

“Had. My husband was killed about two years ago. That’s his little brother and my brother-in-law.” My tone sharpened but it was to keep the choked sounds from coming out.

He stopped. His glare went away and was replaced quickly with a shocked realization instead. Moments passed and I diverted my eyes away as the tears started to prick at the corners. My breaths were low and forced for the moment, but I knew that would pass in time. I waited for another moment before uncrossing my legs and shifted to stand so I could leave the room and have some peace.

“No, stay right there.” I looked up at the sudden intrusion of his voice and tried to send a piercing glare but found my vision had already started to blur a bit. Blinking them back I looked up again to see his demeanor had completely changed. “I’m afraid I must apologize again; that wasn’t an option I considered.” I shook my head quickly and tried to stand again.

“It’s fine; it was going to come up eventually.” I jumped back as I felt his hand hold down my shoulder. I didn’t think as I whipped my head back around to shoot him a glare to leave me be, but his temper had pretty much vanished and I didn’t feel as threatened as I was earlier.

“Don’t run. Let’s discuss this.” The mix of emotions racing through me made absolutely no sense at the moment. I wanted to be alone and yet I didn’t want to turn down his invite. The problem I kept worrying over was if I was going to even be able to talk in a few moments.

“What would you even want to hear? That’s all you needed to clear that up.” He pulled his hand away as he saw I wasn’t going far yet.

“From wherever you want to start. It’s hardly fair that you know everything there is to know about me and here I’ve been made a fool of assuming about you.” The tone he used was very different than the one he was using only moments ago. It was incredible how he could flip attitudes so quickly with one little misunderstanding. I pondered what he would find less boring; my childhood, my college years, the years I spent engaged and the marriage after that…

The tears welled up quickly and I choked on my breath. “Fuck…” I stood up quickly and rushed to the bathroom down the hall to blow my nose and splash cold water over my face. It wasn’t always effective, but I need a quick fix badly. I wrapped a length of tissue and stuck it in my sweater pocket before heading back out to the main room again. Cell had been patient and stayed on the couch with a fairly content look on his face. I sat back down again.

“Sorry…I haven’t talked to anyone about it for over a year now. Still a sore topic…”

“Then start elsewhere. The topics you read on the computer show you have an above average level of education. Would you prefer to start there?” I laughed at the irony of the topic switch.

“Actually, that’s where I met my husband…” Despite my laughs the tears still slipped out and I quickly wiped them off. I caught his reaction out of the corner of my eye; he looked slightly defeated.

“I mean no offense…perhaps you should pick.” I shook my head and swallowed hard.

“No, I need to be able to talk about it someday. I’ll manage.” With that I shifted around and sat cross-legged on the couch again to face him. “I did go to college, but that’s not where majority of my knowledge comes from. That’s been from life in general and keeping up in specific topics.” I glanced up again, feeling a bit nervous telling someone that shouldn’t give a damn about any life other than his own about my history. “That’s about ten years ago now, it’s a pretty long story.” I used a tone that left him the opening if he wanted to change his mind.

He set his shoulders back, “How am I to be a respectable guest if I know nothing of my host?”

I huffed in surrender. “Alright. I’ll try to give you the short version.”

I steadied my breath and tried again. “A few years into my studies I found a transfer program that let me pursue my Bachelor’s…and that’s where I met Jake. He was in the same program, so we ended up in the same classes and spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other. Turns out we had a lot in common…”

I wrung my hands as I felt them start to sweat a bit. “When we started our last year, we took a lot of classes together to help each other out and started spending time together outside of class. Before we graduated he had proposed to me and moved in with me. He had a job offer right away after graduation south of here, so we moved down there and he started his career. We married the following year.” I looked up to see if he was getting impatient with the story.

“Go on. I’ll ask questions after you cover everything up until this point of your life.” A weak smile came across my lips.

“You really want to hear that much?” I asked in a strained voice. His gaze lowered a bit more.

“I want no more misconceptions about you. Now, continue.” I wet my lips before continuing.

“Our luck was a disaster the day after the wedding. We got into a car wreck heading home that totaled it, but we got lucky and walked away. We were pretty thankful for that, but two weeks later he was laid-off from the job we thought was going to be his career. So, newly-wed without his car and now without a job he pretty much started over with searching for jobs again and decided to get his first Master’s degree in the meantime. A day before our one-month anniversary his mother died from a sudden stroke. They say bad luck comes in threes…”

I shuddered and gripped my elbows, but I took another deep breath and continued, “The next year was slow with only a few interviews that got nowhere and we moved back up here where our family was able to get us on our feet again. We picked up jobs that floated us and he pursued another Master’s program just to make sure he had enough qualifications to get another job.” I stopped and quelled the shakes in my gut again and bit hard on my lip when it started to quiver. I noticed a sharp inhale and I looked up to see his odd look.

“This Jake; he sounded fairly intelligent for a human.” I nodded slowly.

“He was brilliant. He was amazing with a computer to the point he kept up with seasoned programmers, and his business mind was incredible. Accounting was natural to him even though he hated it. He found his calling when he got his first Master’s in Economics. He would check up on the world markets everyday just for fun and make predictions based on world events just to see if he was correct the next day. And he usually was…” My lips turned up in a stifled giggle, “But don’t ask him about medicine, biology or anything to do with fitness. He failed miserably in those and that’s where I excelled. So we balanced each other out.”

I straightened up a bit more, “Over two years ago he got the lucky break we needed. A government job looking for someone with an economics background finally came through and took him in.” I felt my throat tighten again.

“A few months into the job there was a drug raid conducted in the building he worked in. Someone had dropped a tip that there was trafficking in that particular building and he was one of four people in the building that night. The squad surprised them and they shot without asking questions…” The tears were coming back again but I choked back the sobs and kept going, “That first week was hell. In a matter of days I was being questioned about his job and what I knew about the drugs they said he was helping traffic. I knew better than that; he would never partake in anything illegal no matter the pay. I had to quit my job between the constant back and forth with the lawyer’s offices and court dates and submitted everything and anything they requested to prove he had nothing to do with it.” My tears still came down, but my anger was showing at this point. “It took them over eight months to finally prove that the entire raid was a blunder and a planted tip to get at one of the higher ups that got a promotion. I had never wished so much hatred on one person that day.”

I had to pause and focus away from the anger and pain that formed. “To keep the team that conducted the raid safe from a manslaughter charge they offered a settlement on a wrongful death instead. As angry and outraged as I was I still let my family talk some logic into me and take the offer instead. That was a bit over a year ago now.”

My eyes cleared up and I was able to look back up to his again and I noticed how attentively he was listening. I realized how patient he had been and reminded myself to thank him at some point. I was starting to actually feel a bit better now.

“The settlement was enough that I made sure both sides of my family were stable and I bought this house last fall. I took care of the debt that was left and decided to start over with life.” I sighed and hugged my arms closer to my body for some sense of security. For some odd reason I suddenly felt vulnerable and feared what Cell might actually think of this information. I waited for some sort of ‘sentimental human’ remark again and prepared myself mentally for the emotionless comments.

But nothing came. The moments ticked by slowly and the quiet was almost like the calm before the storm. I dared to glance up again and noticed his stoic look and a small twitch to his lips before he spoke.

“Your attitude and personality do not reflect your past at all. You’ve done well hiding it.” A painful expression bloomed across my face as those memories started to flood back in.

“You didn’t see those first months after the funeral. I had become a monster for a while there. I look back now and still hardly recognize myself…if I wasn’t so determined to prove his innocence I would have completely given up on life a long time ago…” I kept my breaths steady, but the pain was still in my chest.

“I also overheard several of your conversations with your brother and not once was that brought up. I realize now there were suggestions relating to it, but overall you’ve basically hidden that information away. Typically humans have evidence of hard times in their homes, but not even a picture hangs from the walls.” I glanced around; he was partially right. The only things I had were a few art pieces and horse-related artworks. A few canvases of landscapes were arranged on one wall however. I smiled and pointed to the trio.

“That’s one of few things I left up. He was a hobby photographer and his eye for landscapes was one of a kind to me. So there’s part of him still visible, you’d just never know if you didn’t ask.” I couldn’t believe how much better I felt despite the tears that kept trickling down now and then. Normally by now I would have been in a corner in the basement with the dogs trying to keep me company, but this was different. It felt right.

“This explains a few things now. I much prefer knowing the situation I’ve gotten involved in before any surprises make themselves known.”

“Well, I didn’t figure any of this would have been necessary. Unless you end up staying for a few months you could have come and left without knowing any of this…it wasn’t anything useful to you anyway.” I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he wanted to hear part of my life story. It certainly didn’t help with his attempts to go back to his world or find out more about his powers. Perhaps he really did have an honest curiosity about the one human he has made contact with.

“This was a mutual benefit. I had my misconceptions cleared up and you clearly need to talk about it in order to move on with your mental health. And now if I ask questions you won’t have to make up anything to answer them.” I shot him an odd look.

“I haven’t had to ‘make up’ anything. I’ve told you nothing less than the truth.” His face set into a look that clearly showed he didn’t believe me.

“You could have said he was a brother-by-law and that you weren’t actually related, but you didn’t and left me to wonder why the stories didn’t line up.” I rolled my eyes.

“That’s such a mouthful. And I think of him as a brother as much as I do my actual blood-brother, so it’s no different in my eyes. I care for both equally.” There was the look in his eye again; he had more questions now.

“Ah, a blood-brother too then. Parents too? Why don’t you fill me in since they may appear and you’ll end up explaining later anyway?” I sighed and nodded.

“Fine, I have a blood-brother too. And my mother. My dad passed away back when I was in college. So between my in-laws and the family I have left, I still have my mom, his dad and three brothers. The other brother is also an in-law, but you won’t hear much about him. He’s rarely around.” The dogs were napping in the room by now, but I pointed over towards the smaller of the two girls. “Her breeders will be mentioned a lot too, but they are friends that consider us family. Jake used to work for them and now Zack does, so they are really close too. And if you don’t drink wine, you will learn to,” I laughed aloud. “That house is the epitome of good food, good alcohol and good stories. They’re hilarious.”

“If such an incident occurs, I will keep that information in mind.” His wording left me shaking my head. An ‘incident’ made it sound like he was going to be dragged across the countryside against his will.

“Don’t get too hung up over it; I won’t force you to go anywhere. If you’re willing, well, then that’s a different story. Odds are they don’t even know about you unless Zack mentioned it…”

“Do I have to be concerned with my existence being exposed? Or do you feel he is trustworthy?”

“You don’t have to worry. He’s not much for gossip and they are about the least judgmental people I know. Even if I told them exactly who you were, they’d either not believe it or just say ‘okay’ and carry on. Seriously, this is an easy family to have a secret with.”

“So no fears about the military showing up at your door tomorrow then?” I laughed at his teasing tone.

“They hate our government as much as I do. If anything if I told them you had the power to bring entire militaries to the ground they’d probably ask you to destroy a few things so we could actually have some control over our country again.” His brow arched upwards.

“Really? That’s a request I may not turn down once I’m capable again.” I glared back.

“Don’t get your hopes up. A war in my front yard is not on any of my bucket lists…” His adorable grin came back up again. I figured he would get a kick out of that concept. The tears had long since stopped falling and I took the moment to clear my sinuses with the tissues I kept. Figuring the questions were done I got up and let the dogs outside to play for a bit and grabbed an iced tea. I made my way back in the room and settled on the couch again. The night was coming to a close for me; it was well after 10 by now.

“Will you be up much longer tonight?” I looked back to him after a few sips.

“No, I’m feeling a bit drowsy now. After this drink I’m definitely calling it a night.”

“Would you care to join me at sunrise tomorrow? You seemed to enjoy the invitation this morning.” I felt my heart skip a beat or two at the reminder of his generous display.

“I think you know I won’t turn that down. Sunrise is early this time of year…when would that be?”

“About 6:10, if you would do me the honor.” I grinned after another sip of my tea.

“Even at that hour, I’d still say the honor is all mine.” Finishing my drink I stood up and took the empty glass in my hand. “I’ll see ya at sunrise then.” He dismissed me with a small nod and I headed to my bedroom, pulled out my contacts, set my alarm for 6 and slipped into bed completely giddy about the show I was promised the next day.

I’d like to thank all of the readers for the Kudos!


	9. Keeping Standards Low

Chapter 9

Keeping Standards Low

6 AM came quickly. Despite the tiring day I found it difficult to fall asleep; I was way too excited for what I had set the alarm for. I grabbed my phone to use as a light to head for the bathroom. Once my vision was back I quickly went to make sure I had warm enough clothes on to head outside in. I grabbed a shirt to go over the yoga bra I normally slept in and picked up my favorite lounge sweater to drape over me. The dogs were up but I left them in the room. It was too early for breakfast for them.

Heading for the back door I slipped into my shoes and grabbed the door handle. For a moment a few images from yesterday flipped through my mind and I grinned as I whipped the door open. It was almost too dark to see except for the light starting to form out over the fields behind the house. I could see his silhouette form barely outlined, so I took a deep breath, set my shoulders back to hold my head high and eagerly crossed the yard. I got within a few yards and stopped. It was quiet for a moment.

“Morning.” A chill ran through me as his voice cut through the air and he turned to face me. It was still a bit dark but I could see him well enough to see the light grin flash across his lips. My hands stayed warm inside my hoodie pocket and I relaxed as I leaned a bit on one leg.

“Mornin’.” As the word passed my lips the sun came up over the edge of the fields and the orange glow bathed the entire backyard. I never had a need to be up at this hour before so the view was breathtaking. Having Cell in the middle only added to the epic image and I had to mentally scold myself after my eyes traced the outline of his body in the light.

‘Damn am I such a sucker for this view…’ I bit on my tongue to remind myself to stop ogling. He was only a few feet from me now and the light grew brighter with each passing moment. His arms came undone and one rested on a hip while the other hung at his side.

“I trust you slept well?” The question was unexpected to me, but I disregarded it as a conversation starter.

“Hardly. Too excited,” I piped. It must not have been what he was expecting as he shook his head with a chuckle.

“Hm, we will have to see how this plays out then.”

“Standing here really doesn’t take that much effort...” I stifled a yawn.

“Actually, I spent some time to think over an interesting option. I have this unsettling notion that I owe you for everything that has occurred. I would like to test my patience with you as you have done so with me.” I raised a brow and shook my head.

“Seriously…don’t feel like you ‘owe’ me. I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that I’m still alive,” I laughed lightly through the hazy feeling from only being half awake. The gruff sound he gave almost made me reconsider my words.

“Again I have to remind you that I am holding my end of the bargain and will continue to do so?” Sadly my tired state kept me from holding in my giggles as he gave me an irritated look.

“I’m sorry…” I continued to giggle, “But that won’t vanish anytime soon.” The sun was up high enough now I could see his features much clearer now. His faint frown was still there. I must have been too tired to realize I was testing his patience more than I normally would have.

I shuffled my posture a bit to stand a bit straighter, “Alright, what did you have in mind?” The expression changed on his face as he straightened his form.

“Yesterday you said that despite never having a conflict you believed you would be able to defend yourself. If you would allow it, I would like to test you.” A few odd looks crossed my face before the only thing I could possibly form in my head finally made its way up.

“What?” Apparently he expected this type of reaction from me.

“I would like to test you to see if you’re truly capable,” he repeated with a grin. Again, words failed me for a moment, but then a few outcomes played through my mind.

“You testing me with a fight…I see nothing that can go wrong…?” I raised a brow sarcastically. A short laugh rang from him for a moment before he crossed him arms across his chest.

“Oh, I never said anything about fighting you, my dear, just putting you through a few situations and seeing how you react. Nothing you won’t walk away from,” he ended with a nod. I stood there stunned that I was actually considering the offer even though odds were I was just going to prove to both myself and to him that I would get my ass kicked in a real fight. I brought my arms up around me and scrunched my nose for a second.

“Okay…why?” Somehow I felt an ulterior motive behind these ‘tests’. The sun was beaming up over his shoulder now, making me squint in the light. His form held steady.

“I will explain, after of course.” Common sense was set on refusing, but my curiosity of my skill was starting to come out of hiding. I knew I was tough, quick, and fairly well-balanced, but I also knew I have never tried to put any of that to a real challenge. That if you were to throw a punch you had to put everything behind it and follow through.

I took a short breath in. Several things he could ask for flipped like a rolodex in my head: running a race, lifting as much weight as I could handle, standing on one leg with my eyes closed, or anything else other than actually fighting with him.

“I have no faith, but I can try,” I let my arms fall to my sides. His came down as well and he stepped up a bit closer.

“Lacking confidence will hinder you; quell that mentality and focus.” I squinted in the light but didn’t voice my discomfort. He stepped to my right and I turned to face him, thankful to get the sun out of my eye, but he only moved a couple feet back. I held my breath as he brought his arms up to his sides with tight fists pulled back. My eyes went wide.

“Hey…that’s way too close!” He didn’t move.

“I will give you only this: stay light on your toes.” I swallowed hard and let out a hard breath as I tightened my gut and legs. My heart was pounding in my chest as I braced and waited, unsure of what he was planning. I had my hands open with fingers spread out wide; something I picked up in my yoga sessions. I warily kept my eyes focused on his, hoping they gave away when he was going to move and try to use that moment.

Another shallow breath passed through me. I started to shake a bit; when and what was he going to do? I moved a foot slightly back to center my balance more.

He moved quick and silent. I barely saw it but the fist that was suddenly aiming at my face made me flinch and I snapped my head to the side. My arms flailed to keep my balance as I threw my weight to the side. I felt him hit my upper cheek, but not a solid hit. It was more of a hard graze. Ignoring the jolting pain I forced my head up as soon as I could to brace myself but was met with a forearm thudding high on my chest and I flew back several large steps. Barely managing to recover I glanced up to see him duck low and pull his arm back again.

‘Oh shit…’

The sudden blow to my stomach knocked the wind from me and I doubled over, my arms holding myself as I coughed and gasped, taking a knee in my stunned state. I clenched my teeth and tightened my gut to keep that feeling of nausea at bay. Catching what little breath I could after a few moments I got back on my feet and brought my head up again. I was shaking everywhere, anticipating another assault.

Instead he brought his arms up over his chest again and stared at me. I stared back for a moment before the adrenaline settled down and let me think clearly again.

“The hell!?” A few hacking coughs made their way up, “That wasn’t a test!”

The cocky look on his face nearly had me swearing, but I managed to hold my tongue. “Actually that was three tests, each evaluating a different skill, but clearly you missed what my aims were. Shall we evaluate how well you did?” I kept my arms hovering at my sides, feeling my heart still racing from the ‘tests’ and focused on him.

“Are you done testing me then?”

“For the moment.”

Immediately I didn’t trust his tone. That was definitely a loaded statement.

Taking a quick breath he began, “Each test had its own measurement, but do you know of what? Let’s take the first one. I clearly threw a punch at you. What outcome would be expected of you?” I followed his explanation carefully.

“Well obviously I don’t want to be hit, so, if I could dodge?” I flinched at the word as I remembered a popular joke. He shrugged his shoulders.

“How well do you think you did?” My hand came up to the side of my cheek that still throbbed a bit.

“Definitely a failing score…” I mumbled.

He continued, “The second test, what do you make of it?” I shot him a nasty look.

“That was a flat-out hit. If anything, that was just to see if I could take a beating,” I growled. Granted, the hit didn’t really hurt; it just knocked me back a few feet…then something clicked.

His expression changed a bit, “Are you sure? How did you react to it? There is nothing to learn from hitting you without an expected outcome.” I suddenly realized what that test was.

“Oh, I didn’t hit the ground! Testing my balance?” One eyebrow lifted a notch.

“Finally, the last one.” This one I was truly stumped on. The other tests clearly had specific outcomes he was measuring, but that last hit completely left me on the ground. There was no dodging it and certainly no muscle group it tested. I opened my mouth to speak, but sighed first before shaking my head.

“I really don’t know…” He nodded in acknowledgement.

“Fair enough, 2 of 3 is not bad. Are you satisfied with your own evaluation? Or would you like to hear what I have to say?” Immediately I was curious but I was more than prepared for the lashing I was going to receive. The only thing I felt I had a decent ability in was my balance but even then I barely caught myself.

“Sure, I’d love a professional critique of how badly I’d get my ass kicked…” I groaned. I wasn’t trying to sound too sarcastic, but I wanted him to know my expectations were low to begin with. His flat expression wasn’t approving of my tone.

“Your _optimism_ is starting to wear on what little patience I do have,” he warned. Suddenly my patience was out the window.

“Hey, not fair!” I exclaimed, suddenly feeling a bit of heat rise in my chest. “I will take on a _human _in _any _physical test. A flat race, any test of balance, endurance challenges, even swimming! I know NOTHING of a fight. I am keeping my standards low _for a reason_,” I stressed. Yes, I was a bit miffed now. If he had any patience left for me it had probably diminished by now. Nervous as I was I still managed to keep my glare fixed on his terrifying gaze.

That gaze didn’t change as he spoke, “Yet that confidence flares up along with your temper with a challenge from a human. Why did you not use that when I was testing you?” My stunned look would have been priceless for anyone that could have been observing this little vocal skirmish.

“Well I kinda need to know what the test is…and what part of ‘human’ are you not hearing?” Seriously, he was not an idiot, why was he asking me this? Any person in the world wouldn’t even be intimidating compared to him! The air was tense as I waited for some sort of angry outburst. But as the moments ticked by I realized just how disrespectful I was being and sighed in defeat. “Sorry, I guess I just didn’t think you would actually hit me…I do want to hear it.” I held my head up and straightened my posture. If this was going to happen I was going to listen properly.

The sun was brightly beaming across us now and I could see his lips twitch to the side. It became apparent the moment was to gather his thoughts before he spoke. “Do you believe the outcomes would change had you been informed of each test?” I weighed out my answers and found I was contradicting myself. I hesitated a bit.

“Well, I’d like to think so…I’d know what to expect and could focus more…but I’m still up against you…” I clenched my jaw a bit. Could I honestly have moved any quicker? My thoughts were scrambled before he took that first swing, but I found myself still unable to counter anything even after that. From the outside, it probably looked like he was treating me like a punching bag.

“This is the situation I gave you: I dialed back my speed and strength to that slightly above a typical human male without any disciplined techniques. More or less, a street-fighting level. Given your body type is above that of a standard female, I predicted you could handle the power I used against you. As expected, you did.” Suddenly my confidence sank; he put me against exactly what I thought I could handle and got my ass handed back to me. My face fell with my confidence.

“Oh…great. A fat drunk is my best hope then…” He stiffened at my mumble.

“Listen. I am not done.” His sharp tone brought me out of my slump. “I also withheld information of another test you needed to pass before the other tests began. A prerequisite, if you will.” I was suddenly running ideas through my head to figure out what else I missed. Reaction speed and balance were obvious now, but I still didn’t know what the third test was, and now a fourth was there before everything started? “Do you know what that initial test was?” I shook my head slowly.

“No clue, I still don’t know about the third,” my voice squeaked out my confusion.

“In time, but for now you must understand what the initial test meant. The punch I threw at you was not meant to be dodged; it was to see if I needed to stop or if I could follow through. For every creature there are two given options in dangerous situations; to flee or to fight. A third option naturally occurs as well but is typically overlooked. There are situations where you cannot outrun your opponent nor fight them, so the brain initiates a last-resort that resembles a deer-in-headlights look.” Suddenly I realized what he was talking about.

“Oh, when you’re so scared you freeze…but I didn’t,” I felt a smile come up. I recalled a lecture that discussed the same idea with training police officers to keep from freezing in situations that could get them shot when faced with an armed suspect. Suddenly a small smirk came up across his face.

“Exactly. You didn’t freeze, so I was able to follow through and that is when the real test began. The fact that I only grazed you meant your brain has enough instincts to not only let you fight but to also give you a bit of reaction time. You passed both of those tests well, and your speed is only at a base. That can be trained and sharpened. You just don’t know what to watch for yet.” I wet my lips in anticipation. I was starting to get a bit excited! And I was starting to appreciate when he went into lecture mode.

He continued, “The second test was exactly what you predicted as well. I hit well above your center of gravity to see if you could recover. While it took more steps than necessary, you did. I had my suspicions of your balance after your demonstration on the kitchen floor several days ago, but you have proven otherwise now.” I felt my embarrassment spike at the reminder of my fumble.

“Hey, there were a lot more factors involved than just my balance that day,” I started.

“Hush.” It was so quick and unexpected a shock ran through my spine and I held my tongue. He clearly did not like being interrupted. “The final test has apparently stumped you, so I will try to explain in a manner you can follow. Most fights are not ended in one hit unless you catch your opponent in a vulnerable area. The stomach is one such area that needs to be guarded and the only barrier between a punch and your organs is a strong core. Average humans may have some strength in their arms and legs from a typical lifestyle, but a strong core needs to be trained from a variety of activities, not just strength or balance. I needed an accurate measure before making a decision. So, for your last test, you needed to react to a hit in a vulnerable area. Now that you know, would you like to make an assessment yourself first?” I followed the explanation with ease and now found myself questioning my reaction to the hit. No matter how I looked at it, I only saw a failing blunder even though I considered myself having a fairly well-toned core.

“It knocked the wind out of me and I went to the ground. I can’t see that as a passing score.”

“You took a knee, yes. But how quickly did you get back up?”

“It shook me good, so maybe 10 seconds? 15?” I bit my lip. I was being generous with the time since I figured the hit might have made me lose track of time for a moment. The hardest part was getting regular breathing again and that took more than just a few seconds.

“12 exactly. Had you not stood back up from the pain that would have been too little. If you had taken over a minute you would have proven a bit of core strength. But you were up in less than a quarter of that time.” The sheer thrill that I felt from that tone of his voice made my day and I clenched my fist in a small expression of pride.

“Glad to hear all those years of riding paid off,” I cheered and looked out to the horses that had been hovering curiously along the gate. His eyes quickly glanced out to them as well then back to me.

“I fail to see a connection between those creatures and your abilities.”

“Oh, maybe not so much these days, but back when I was riding every day and practicing for shows the balance showed a lot more. And Artie was a bucking bronc back then. The first summer I owned him he made sure I hit the ground a few times a week. So I guess my reaction speed might be from working with him too,” I grinned.

“The only information I was provided with about these creatures is of older civilizations where wars were decided with cavalries, but after the industrial age humans advanced beyond what the creatures were able to provide. I know nothing of their use today. They appear to be pets in your care much like the dogs are.” I nodded in agreement.

“Pretty much now. Horses are a hobby and a lot of people own them because they enjoy them, not because they need them. If you really want to know I can show you a bunch of stuff they compete in now. It’s a diverse hobby.”

The look on his face clearly showed no interest, as I figured he wouldn’t, but then glanced back at them again.

“They would serve no purpose to me, so I see no need to research them.” That was fair enough. At least he didn’t write them off as ancient tools that needed to be discarded. Those would have been fighting words for me.

But I realized I had gotten way off topic and brought my hands up together and cracked my knuckles in anticipation. “So what was the point of putting me through all of this? Do I at least get a grade?” I felt my voice rise with my enthusiasm. His face lit up as he turned toward me. I prepared for the lecture I was sure was coming my way.

“Everything I did was to see whether you passed or failed the measures I was setting you up for. There are no grades as there is no standard to compare you to yet. For now, I am able to say you passed each test, but now I am unsure if I set the standard too low and should have pushed you harder,” he finished with a small flash of a devious smile. The tone he finished that sentence with left me with a sudden drop in my gut and a reminder that he said there was a purpose for these tests.

“This is what I had in mind,” he started, “to even the score I am offering to teach you to fight. If you feel there is no score to be settled, consider it a way to both satisfy your curiosity and for me to stave off boredom.” My eyes lit up and I took a deep breath.

I let that line echo a few times in my head. He was offering to teach me to fight. A skill I had never considered learning before had suddenly become an opportunity right in my own backyard. For a moment I suddenly felt like the luckiest girl in the entire world. But then the other half started to think about the negatives that could come from it too. This was a chance to learn but with someone of his stature this would not be for fun. I would have to take this very seriously. I only had one question that could make or break the entire idea.

“How hard are you going to hit me?” my eyebrows went up. I was genuinely concerned about being put in a sink-or-swim situation and the lessons would be filled with ‘dodge or get hit’ types of training. I’d start calling him Piccolo if that were the case even though he wouldn’t understand the joke. At least I’d get the satisfaction of that dumbfounded look on his face afterword. He made a small ‘heh’ that got my attention.

“Hard enough that you learn from it. I have no ill-intentions of hitting you to the point of serious injury. Pain, while an ideal motivator for improvement, still has limitations and could discourage rather than encourage. Our deal still stands; you have nothing to fear from me.” The wave of relief that washed over me was more than words could ever describe and I let out my breath as a huge smile broke out across my face.

“Then that would be the honor of the century!” I had to stop myself from bouncing in my spot as I cheered in my head. The chance to learn from the best fighter known without the need to fear for my life was beyond anything I could have dreamed of! I caught a flash of a smile from him before he narrowed his gaze a bit.

“Not afraid of being hit by me?” I brought my hand up, brushed it over my sore cheek and gave him a flirty grin.

“I’ve already gotten a taste; I think I can handle it.” I noticed his intrigued look at my bolder tone. Thankfully he didn’t feed back into it as his look changed slightly more serious.

“Then you better prepare yourself since that was only a gentle version of the real training you will be enduring.” That was definitely a promise. “Any other questions before we begin then?”

I was quick to answer, “Just one. Can I change into something more appropriate? I’m still kinda in my pajamas…” I was nervous asking for anything since this was something I never expected from him and didn’t want to push my luck. But he seemed to mull it over.

“Hm…I suppose I can honor that request. I did blindside you after all. But tomorrow be ready. There will be punishments for being tardy.” I stiffened at his tone.

“N-never!” He nodded in response.

“Then be quick.” I didn’t need to be told twice. I took off for the house and let the idea sink in once more with my mind running a million miles an hour.

The next day I woke to my alarm again, only this time set fifteen minutes earlier. After my first taste of Cell’s version of circuit training I realized I wanted a few more minutes in the morning to at least feel a bit fresher. I hated the tacky feeling in my mouth in the morning.

I went to reach for the phone to shut off the blaring sound, but my arm didn’t want to move. I groaned and tried harder but only found my entire body absolutely refused to move. Trying once more the ache actually pried a pained sound from me and I finally got my body to roll over.

My entire body was stiff. Each little movement reminded me of every muscle I used and then some! But the question wasn’t so much if I was out of shape but if he pushed me that hard…

Psyching myself awake I made the pathetic shift to get my legs to the floor and finally got enough energy in them to stand. I took the moment to lightly stretch to get the blood moving more. My first steps were heavy but as I started moving more it got easier and by the time I had dragged my clothes out I was feeling much more motivated.

I made it out back before the sun came up. I started checking my phone more to keep up with the sunrise times to keep from being late. I did not want to learn what the punishment for that would be. He turned as I approached and I ran my hands over my arms to warm up. My hair bounced in the ponytail I had it pulled up in and I felt the chill zip down from my neck. The workout clothes I picked were good choices for flexibility and coverage, but the morning chill still seeped through. Figuring the morning would warm up like yesterday did I was wearing a tank top under the fitted jacket, just in case.

His eyes scanned once-over before giving an approving nod.

“Prepared today I see. I half-expected you to not make an appearance.”

I stretched my neck from side to side and flexed my shoulders a bit to feel the strain there too. “Oh trust me, I’m feeling it today. But it’s best to keep pushing on the next day.” I might have looked a bit controlled but my voice was filled with excitement for the workout today. I was the type to hit the gym hard for a few days to get over the initial ‘hump’ of muscle soreness before setting myself into a routine. With Cell, however, I expected the routine to begin right away yesterday.

Instead he started with a more beginner-level foundation. He was particularly focused on my footwork and balance more than my power or (lack of) skill. He never even had me throw a punch, much to my relief, as that would have been a pathetic display. The little ‘game’ he set up was to keep me facing him and to make use of my balance with reaction speed to keep him from getting to my sides or behind me, which he threatened to knock me down if he did. After the first couple times he shoved me around I caught on quicker and managed to keep up a consistent pace for at least fifteen minutes.

But that was just the first round and I found out my cardio was at an all-time low. I made a mental note to try to work in running a bit in between to try to build that tolerance back up again. Meanwhile he kept increasing his speed and even after catching on and reacting quicker he still got me to the ground a few more times before stopping for a break and a lecture. We went for another round after that and he didn’t let up until we hit the hour mark.

But today was a new day and he wouldn’t give me even a hint as to what today would hold. So I stood there ready for whatever he prepared to throw at me.

Turns out, it was the opposite.

“Try to hit me.”

I gawked at the cometh-at-me grin and stance he held. I brought up my hand and clenched it, looked from him and back to my fist again. I couldn’t help my sheepish smile.

“With this little thing?” I had small hands and even smaller wrists. Hitting him would have been like pitching pebbles at a locomotive. The cutest grin came up on his face in a light taunt.

“Come now, where is all that enthusiasm for learning to fight? You can’t win if you don’t hit your opponent.” My body was tingling with the idea of making any sort of contact with Cell, combat or not. It was a mix of nervous butterflies in my stomach and the shakes in my arms from just the idea of throwing a punch. That aside, a kickboxing class with a foam target was different than an actual opponent.

I gulped, “Well, I’ve never thrown a punch AT someone before!” I stepped back warily. My mind started to process what I would even need to do. Would I hurt myself with a punch or lose my balance? What if he hit back?

That thought made my blood run cold.

“I never said how you needed to hit me. Just make some sort of contact then we can go from there.” I swallowed hard and brought my arms up to my sides, clenching my fists to see how it felt. I didn’t like a couple things right away: my nails dug into my skin more than I liked, so those would have to be cut short, and my hands were cold from the chilly morning so my skin felt tight and could crack and split easily. Would gloves help that? Was that even a good idea?

“You’re overthinking it!” I looked up, completely stunned as he quickly closed the space between us and shoved me sideways with the side of his arm. I hit the ground but not hard enough to hurt so I quickly scrambled back up to my feet and felt my blood racing as he shuffled his feet, threatening to get on either side of me. His hands were never threatening to hit me as they were never clenched into fists, but I still had to be wary as he used his arms and elbows just as easily. He stepped back a few feet away and took the pressure off.

‘Here goes nothing!’ Without really thinking about it I charged forward and only pulled my arm back just enough to snap forward quickly, hoping I would connect somewhere…and hoping it wouldn’t hurt.

“Don’t hesitate!” my loosely-gripped fist lost all form when his arm swatted mine away. My mind reeled as I felt my arm snap behind me from the sheer force he used to push it away. “I know you have more than that! Now hit me with everything!” I caught myself and brought my arms back up, clenching my fists harder and feeling the strain down my arm as I tightened the muscles. Gritting my teeth I braced through my body and kept my feet moving, staying light on my toes as I tried to shuffle to an angle that I could try to throw another punch. He mirrored me for a bit but then darted to my side and I heard my short gasp mix with short breaths as I shuffled again.

‘Oh crap, I gotta do both? Dance around him and get a hit in!?’

I moved faster, trying to get to one of his sides quick enough to swipe at him but his movements were quicker than mine and with less effort. I bared my teeth and charged in with my arms tucked in tight and went for another jab. This time he moved away just enough for me to fall short and I lost my balance from leaning too far in. He stepped around in one quick motion and his arm whacked me across the back. I flew forward and had to catch myself with a hand before I spun around, absolutely pissed at how little direction I was given today. This definitely felt more like a ‘this is what you did wrong’ type of lesson. Well if I was going to mess up anyway might as well go all out.

With a growl I pulled both of my arms back and charged at him. I slammed my right foot down to get a solid footing and threw my right arm out for his face even though I knew he was too tall for me to reach from here. Pushing all of my weight into the thrust I felt my entire body shift and for a moment I completely forgot about getting hurt.

My body jolted to a halt as he caught my fist with his hand. Panic rushed through me as I saw how small my fist looked as he closed his hand around it. I tried to pull back but he held fast.

“Hold on now. I want you to reflect on what just happened. Your first attempts were shallow and you didn’t follow through. This is the first correct motion you have done. It didn’t matter if it was a punch or a kick; you didn’t hesitate and you used your entire body to stabilize and power it. Now,” he released my fist and I pulled it back to my side, “you are going to continue to practice until you are confident consistently, then we will advance from there.”

The practice for the next half-hour probably looked ridiculous but I could happily say it was the most exciting thing I had ever done. There were plenty of half-assed attempts at hitting him but he made sure to point out the ones that had correct form and follow-through. I figured fighting had its own proper techniques much like sports did but had never had the opportunity to have it explained to me in full. He showed me a few different types of punches for different situations and after a quick breather with another lecture we resumed for a bit longer than yesterday. And, like yesterday, he never truly hit me with any force other than to either knock my arm away or push me to the ground.

But I didn’t get comfortable; that day would eventually come.

He ended the session when my lunges had lost all form and I was throwing my body weight around rather than maintaining posture. He quickly demonstrated how that could be used against me by tripping me and making sure I face-planted into the grass.

I groaned as I lay there, turning my face to keep from inhaling the blades of grass that tickled my nose. His yellow boots crossed my vision and I pulled my arms back to sit up on my elbows. He knelt down and rested his arm over his knee. The look on his face told me everything I already figured; he delighted in teaching me these little ‘life-lessons’ of fighting.

Either that or my reactions to them as I recalled the most girlish squeal coming from me as I fell.

With a gleeful grin he tilted his head, “Hopefully that was a subtle reminder to be aware of your posture.”

I let my head fall forward, “More like solid proof that my stamina is crap right now…” I wasn’t breathing as hard now as I recovered for the moment but decided to shift to sit up on my knees. “If I don’t start improving soon…this is going to be very short-lived.”

“It’s good that you keep high standards for yourself, but don’t expect drastic changes for a while. How’s this for a schedule? Every third day will be your day to recover. Use it however you wish.” I was taken aback for a moment.

“Oh, I thought for sure you’d be an everyday type of trainer.” Honestly I wasn’t sure if I would have been capable of doing this every morning but I certainly wasn’t going to try to bargain for days off unless it was absolutely necessary. This sounded promising.

He disregarded the notion quickly as he nodded ‘no’, “Not only would it put too much pressure on you but would be difficult for me as well. I have to hold myself back so much with you that I will take that day to maintain my own training.” I shrugged my head and shoulders in agreement.

“Alright, I can agree with that. Any suggestions for the day off? Hate to counter all of this by not doing something in between.” In my college days there was a routine of workouts for certain days and in-between would be fun stuff like swimming or a fun sport to break up the routine. As tempting as being a couch potato would have been I didn’t want to slip up because of it. He stood up.

“Personally I prefer meditation, but a next-best for you would be your yoga routine. It will be good for you both mentally and physically, so find a routine that focuses on stretching and balance. It would be a shame to have you too exhausted the next morning from wasting energy on anything that doesn’t contribute.” I had hoped he would suggest that so I was thrilled with it more than he would ever appreciate. I shifted and set a hand down to push myself up from the ground but I caught him moving and glanced up. He extended an arm with his palm up. I glanced back and forth from his hand to his face a couple times, unsure of the gesture. Surely he wasn’t offering to help me up?

“I thought it was polite to offer a lady a hand?” If it weren’t for the genuine look on his face I would have never believed him. Instead I smiled at the most ironic scene.

“What does it mean when a villain has more chivalry than our modern society does?”

A light smile flashed back, “It means that chivalry is not dead.”

“It certainly isn’t,” and with that I grasped his hand.

The next morning was refreshing. I had set a reasonable alarm to keep myself from oversleeping too much; it wasn’t worth risking sleeping through the earlier alarms and to help stay accustomed to waking earlier. The dogs certainly didn’t complain; it meant breakfast sooner and that made these dogs happy. I shuffled down the hall to make my drink and a light breakfast. Switching the machine on I peeked out the back window to see if Cell was in his own routine this morning. Unfortunately it seemed I had missed it. Bummed out I turned to get my ice cubes to drop in the glass but was halted as I turned to see him standing in the entryway to the kitchen. A bit surprised my eyes widened.

“Oh, morning,” I piped. He seemed uneasy and a very awkward air hovered over us. I stopped my motions to see if he was going to respond.

He shifted lightly and took a breath, “Morning…I’ve found myself in a bit of a situation again…” his eyes shifted a bit in some sort of confusion. That got my attention.

“Oh, something up?” I watched his eyes carefully as he swallowed and uncrossed one of his arms, holding his hand out a little bit. I watched closely.

He was shaking. Badly.

“Oh no, not again,” I breathed. My tone was panicked. “What happened?” He took another shaky breath.

“I’ve kept up with the usual with water whenever the craving arose and resting when it was necessary. I was forced to cut my routine by half this morning and rest has not improved anything. It’s not just my hands either…” he stopped. I could see this was practically killing him to not understand all of these new situations. “I thought it best to come to you before repeating the events from days ago.” A small smile made its way up for me.

“Good thing too, I don’t think I could handle walking in on you conked out on the floor,” I turned quickly on my heel and switched off the machine. “Anything other than the shaking? Cuz there are only a few things left to cause this.”

His breath was short and his legs were a bit unsteady, but he shook his head, “Mostly the weakness and shaking again, but there’s a nagging pain as well…” I kept my calm demeanor but continued my probing questions.

“Gotta tell me where; can’t figure out anything with these vague descriptions.” His arm moved again, this time covering his gut and a small groan rumbled through his body. I looked up to his face; he didn’t make that sound, his stomach did. I giggled lightly. “Oh, well, guess those Sayajin cells are showing now…” His face reflected some serious shame.

“What do you mean? I have to consume food for energy?” That tone sounded just like a child finding out it was their turn to do chores for the day. I shrugged lightly.

“This weakness is probably low blood sugar. It’s the only thing left on the list now. You’ve done everything else that should prevent this.” I shook my head and sighed, “That might make sense if your power was your energy source…you need a different one now.” It was quiet for a few moments. I wasn’t sure if he was accepting the idea or not. Not that I was going to shove anything down his throat, but he really needed to consider the idea.

I lifted my eyes and made sure to meet his. He was definitely upset but also mulling over the situation. ‘Such a pouter,’ I mused to myself. It seemed simple to me, but eating was yet another human quality and he would certainly use it to prove his theory that he became human in this world. I was going to run out of reasons to prove he wasn’t at this rate.

“Do you want to try? I can make something for you,” I carefully and quietly offered. Another few moments passed before he clenched his jaw.

“I…suppose, but I don’t know what to ask for…” I perked up immediately and gently pushed him from the hallway.

“Let me handle it; fitness and nutrition go hand-in-hand. I’ll make us something simple but not weird. It’s good too.” He let me push him back a bit before hesitating. “Go sit down, I don’t need you spending any more energy standing around.” Taking the advice he headed back to the living room and I headed for the fridge.

“Alright, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt…I’ll skip the raspberries today…”

About ten minutes later I headed into the living room with two tall glasses in hand with spoons tucked under my fingers. He was on the couch so I handed him one glass before sitting down beside him with my own. He looked it over and held the spoon between his fingers.

“What…is this?” I smiled and held my spoon over the mixture.

“It’s a smoothie. It’s a blend of strawberries, blueberries, a banana, plain yogurt and crushed ice cubes. Best recipe ever!” I grinned and dipped my spoon in for a bite. “The spoon makes it easier than just trying to drink it. This is a good balance of natural sugars, carbs and protein from the yogurt. Hydrates you too since everything is pretty much water-based too.” He watched me take another bite before he hesitantly dipped his own spoon in.

I watched with ridiculous amounts of anticipation as he took his first bite. The next few seconds passed like molasses as I watched his expressions change. It was like someone tasting a fine wine for the first time but with a spoon instead. When he dipped it in again I started breathing again. For some reason I was really nervous about the reactions I was going to get. Instead he looked up from the glass.

“What?” Immediately I averted my eyes from his.

“Sorry…just hoped it was alright…” and I quickly shoved another spoonful in my mouth. My pulse was racing; why in the world was this so nerve-wracking? It was just a smoothie! I could understand if I had made a gourmet dinner and burned something, but this was too simple to mess up. Hesitantly I looked up again and noticed a light smirk on his face.

“It’s quite good. The mix is very flavorful.” The fluttering nerves filled my gut again and I felt a lot warmer.

“Uh thanks…” I fidgeted, “fresh fruit is the key.” I took several more bites. “This was another first for you…I didn’t wanna disappoint.” His chuckle got me to shudder again and I peeked up from the glass.

“You sure do fret over the oddest things.” I absolutely loved that look in his eyes. Bright, alert, and slightly gleaming with some sort of enjoyment, whether it was from the smoothie or my attitude around him didn’t matter at the moment. I looked away as a shy smile formed.

“Well, I can’t help it…I feel like a bit of a tour guide for you…” I rattled my spoon for some more of the smoothie, “You’ve been stuck with only what I can offer. I hope it’s been tolerable,” I offered a half-smile. I heard a clink that brought me back out of my shell; his glass was empty. Well that was quick; I still had a little more to go.

“Tolerable…I recall telling you it was difficult to see who was tolerating who now. If this isn’t proof enough, then I don’t have any other way to explain it to you. I’ve had to approach you for information, aid and now sustenance. As of now I can only look forward to future assistance and offerings.” I was in an odd state for a moment; listening to him like this was enlightening in ways I could never describe. The android feared for the threat of destruction, death and beyond was accepting how much he was depending on me and even admitting his attitude towards it. A new fear was blossoming in me now; I feared letting him down. Any new obstacles that he could encounter in this world were now things I feared not having answers to or possibly unable to fix.

I peered into my glass to see the rest of the mix melted and too liquid to get the rest so I dropped the spoon in and sighed.

“Then I’ll take it day-by-day.” I licked my dry lips in anticipation, “Would you be up for trying some different meals? If you can let me know I can work some in pretty easily.” After cooking alone for so long I got used to prepping and buying for only certain portions. He cradled the glass in his hand and nodded.

“If they are of a quality as this was I may consider it more frequently. Water is quite dull, and I had not expected human food to be this flavorful. It is no wonder why the Sayajins eat so heartily.” Much like the other day his voice and personality had perked right back up after finding some sort of solution to the new issues. I couldn’t help but jump in the conversation.

“They definitely appreciate good food! But you really don’t need to eat as much as they do…you can still try so many different things and find out what you like without acting like they do…” I laughed. The images of Goku and Vegeta devouring majority of what I kept in the house flashed through my mind and I suddenly felt grateful that a weapon that had never eaten a day in his life was dropped in my lap instead. I felt something else too; the panicked thudding in my ears was gone and I noticed the shakes in my gut were gone. That aura of being unsure and worried about his health had dissipated too. If he was at ease, so was I.

But I knew how nervous I was when he was quiet, reserved and unpredictable. What a roller coaster of emotions this was going to be if the days continued like this. If I was going to feel like walking on eggshells until he finally gave me a smile…

He had better not ever use that against me intentionally to get anything, or so help me I would find a way to hit him hard enough for him to regret it.

He stood suddenly without warning with a huge grin on his face as he turned to me.

“That helped immensely! I have more than enough energy to continue where I left off.”

“Hold on!” I knew what he was planning as soon as he got up; he wanted to keep up his training even after eating. I figured he needed a heads-up for this. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. Doing anything on a full stomach isn’t recommended. It could end badly…” I was not going to tell him he would throw it up; hopefully it was implied. He paused and fixed his gaze on me.

“You mean like how the fight would have gone?” So he remembered that detail. I nodded lightly. “While I still cannot fathom how 18 would be forced from me, the fact is that potential is there…perhaps you’re right.” With that he turned and sat back down on the couch. I was always happy with the space he kept between us; this was a large couch and there was always a few feet between us because of it. I hated cramped, short couches. I had set my glass behind me on the end table and turned to face him, resting my cheek in my hand as I smiled.

“I’d like to say you’d be fine as long as you took it easy and didn’t overdo it, but I think I know you better than that.” He turned back to me, an odd shimmer in his eyes.

“Do you now? Well then let me ask: now that I have yet another human quality I am forced to endure, are you still certain I have not become one?” I held my breath; that look he was giving me was serious and stern. I was really, really hoping he wouldn’t bring that up again. My voice cracked a few times before I was able to sputter anything.

“Uh, well…that…that doesn’t mean anything!” I started, “But…I, um…” I fidgeted. I kept my eyes on his, waiting for the right explanation to come up, but I was at a loss. I wasn’t going to say ‘Oh yes this definitely PROVES you’re human!’ but I had nothing to throw back at him! I kept silently panicking…

...until he suddenly busted out laughing and brought his hand up over his mouth, bringing it down to a low chuckle.

“Oh, I apologize but it is so difficult to keep a poker face with you, my dear Erika. That was a very entertaining explanation.” My face fell.

“Wait, was that serious? Or were you kidding?” My jaw fell straight down as he nodded his head.

“Again, my apologies. I have done my own assessments over the past several days and have realized that, while I am severely limited, I am still, well, myself. This may just be a normal state for me as I have never been completely without my power before. Naturally some adjustments would be necessary.”

I narrowed my eyes, feeling a huge wave of heat flush over me in absolute embarrassment. He pulled that on me to get a reaction! I took a huge breath, closed my eyes, and let it out very, very slowly.

“You…” I could feel it coming. It was sitting right there on the tip of my tongue. He leaned in a bit, that gleaming shimmer in his eyes again.

“Do you have something to say, my dear?” he stressed. My eyes locked with his one last time.

“Yes.”

With one last breath I couldn’t help it and I stood up, his eyes following me as I did. “You are an ass!” I stepped and grabbed my almost empty glass. “You are an ASS! Where? He is there!” I pointed accusingly. “There is the ass!”

The blank stare he gave back was comical, but without batting an eye I reached down, took the empty glass from his hand and started for the kitchen.

“That was rehearsed!” he called out behind me, “Why use a reference I don’t understand!?” I turned and headed down the hall after dropping the glasses at the sink.

“Because it fit!”

Thanks again for your support! Who else knows the anime the 'ass' line comes from? 


	10. Filled With Determination

Chapter 10

Filled With Determination

I stormed out the back door muttering several obscenities. The dogs met me after several steps but I continued on too frustrated to stop to pet them. I tossed out the hay, checked the water and headed back through the gate of the pasture. Laying my arms over the wooden fence I sighed and propped a foot on the bottom plank.

Honestly I had no idea why I had gotten so peeved over a small joke. It’s not like Cell didn’t have a sense of humor so he was bound to pull something on me eventually. I blamed it on bad timing; he obviously didn’t realize just now nervous I got over each of these little hiccups he encountered and tried making light of it. But he pulled it just right and practically made me sick with guilt.

There it was; I was pissed that he got me to stumble. After days of feeling confident with my answers I fumbled like an idiot in front of him. I dropped my head into my hands and groaned, but I’d get over it eventually. Lati and Balla stopped by a few times to let me know they were there before bouncing off again with their tails flailing. A small breeze kicked up and I took a deep breath in, desperately trying to clear my head of my sudden sour mood.

‘_It’s not his fault you didn’t take the joke well, get over yourself_,’ I had to rationalize. Another thought started to nag in the back of my head now. I just called the most powerful weapon to ever exist…an ass. Not once, not twice… All thanks to a line from my favorite anime.

“I am such an idiot…” Using a reference on someone that didn’t know it was probably the worst thing I could have done in that moment but I couldn’t help it; that one was pretty much my knee-jerk reaction to being picked on. The very least I owed him was an apology.

The slam of the back door snapped me out of my brooding. My pulse immediately responded and roared loudly in my ears. I wasn’t ready; my face got warm and I could feel my body twitch nervously. The grass rustled from each step and his presence suddenly felt very heavy on my back.

“Such a shame, really,” he started, “I didn’t take you as someone that couldn’t handle a joke.” I sighed and figured I needed to give in, so I turned around and leaned back on the boards.

“No, I can take and dish them with some of the best,” I snorted, “but, seriously, that was ridiculous timing. That whole ‘turned human’ argument had crossed my mind before you pulled that on me…” I couldn’t bring myself to look up. My eyes stayed on the grass off to my side. Something about making eye contact with him was frightening at the moment.

“Ah, so you had already made assumptions about my condition before I decided to taunt you…” His amused tone made me shudder. I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Yeah, and you know what they say when you assume…”

I heard a light sound from him and his steps coming closer, “Now that is a phrase I am aware of…” I barely stopped myself from face palming. Oh, the irony. He would know how _that _phrase went. As if I wasn’t in enough trouble already. He settled in beside me and I noticed his arms draping over the top boards.

“I must admit though, of all the things I have been called that is definitely a new one…” I was too nervous to respond at the moment. Instead I just leaned a bit more into the fence and let out a long sigh. “Do you typically use references others wouldn’t understand?” I shrugged as I turned my head to him.

“Not really, I call anyone that pulls something on me an ass…that just happens to be my favorite variation of it,” I laughed. He raised one brow but didn’t respond. I guess that was a good thing at the moment; he wasn’t nearly as insulted as I feared he would be. Daring to take it one notch further I grinned, “Sorry I couldn’t come up with something more creative…”

“It was more creative compared to other ‘terms of endearment’ I have had screamed at me. Especially when the same one gets repeated enough…” His tone wasn’t giving away what was going on in his head. One side of me was saying this was a safe conversation and to engage, but the other half was still leery of my name-calling blunder.

I took the dive, “I guess one you weren’t fond of?” He shrugged.

“Being impervious to shame makes it difficult to be offended by anything, especially mere words conjured by humans in their final dying moments…” he turned to me. The images flashed through my mind: his first form absorbing people, his second one blowing up the islands, and this form where leveling a mountain was just a display. It was scary to think about these events actually occurring, but it felt no less terrifying than Freiza’s horrifying reign and destruction. In all honesty I judged Frieza to be the more feared villain with a more classical view of the universe. I wouldn’t dare tell Cell this.

Not yet anyway.

“I’m surprised any of them lived long enough to say anything…” Not that I wanted him to go into detail about his killing sprees, but I wanted to test how much of this topic I could handle. If I couldn’t do it now then his stay was just going to get that much harder as the days passed. Whether I wanted to accept it or not he was still responsible for the deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of people. His gaze wavered at my response. He must not have been expecting it.

“Very few did, actually. My hunts were efficient, so few saw death coming let alone got a word in before,” he turned away. It took a moment before I realized I could breathe again.

“Was it like that in your original timeline too?”

He quickly turned back, “You don’t already know?”

“No, it’s pretty much speculation. Your entire timeline is, actually. All we saw was you kill Trunks and take the time machine. We were told the cyborgs were destroyed, but that’s it.” I shrugged at his questioning gaze, “It’s another topic that gets discussed a bit…” The sudden pique to my curiosity was almost unbearable. He was standing right here, right now, to answer all of the questions I ever had about his own timeline. To dispel the rumors and have to truth all to myself. I had to ask.

“What didn’t we get to see? How did you find out what happened?” I stood with bated breath. This was yet another moment I couldn’t prepare for. The next words out of his mouth were going to become the script of his timeline. He turned away and looked out past the fields.

“So this is what that moment feels like. To have knowledge that I could taunt you with.” He stayed quiet for a moment, and then turned back to me with a grin, “Tell me why you helped me and I will gladly fill in the gaps.” I felt my face fall flat.

“Adorable.” He leaned in closer.

“Well? Think about it, what an easy predicament you have here. You have the answer to my question and I have all of the answers to yours.” I practically felt steam coming from my ears but I couldn’t help but ponder how simple that would have been. It was incredibly tempting.

“Well there’s no bargain here since you already know that answer…” I brandished a wide grin, “What a shame, you’ll have to come up with a new question.” I watched his face fall immediately and he whipped his head back around. He must not have liked how cheeky that response was, but at least it kept him from pressing on more. But I also lost any hope of new information today. A heavy wave of doubt started clouding my head; this was definitely a few steps backward. Hopefully another opportunity would present itself someday and I’d get the answers I wanted. I could bide my time until then.

“It’s been a bit since breakfast. Gonna get back to your training?”

He didn’t look at me. “I thought it ‘wasn’t recommended’?” Well that sounded cold. Did I really just put him in a sour mood?

“Well, plenty of time has passed, I’m sure it’s fine by now…” The rest of the conversation trailed off to nothing. I had no comeback, no good topics to bring up now. He pushed off the fence and took a few steps out before cracking his neck and knuckles.

“Might as well since I won’t be making progress with anything else today…” he stressed. I grit my teeth. Was he really trying to guilt trip me? Pushing away from the fence I started for the door, making sure I nearly brushed him as I passed by.

“Good, it’ll keep you distracted…” I muttered. I never heard another word from him as I reached the door with both dogs waiting.

Afternoon came and dragged slowly as I bustled through the house. Using the day off I caught up the short list of chores without interruption and made a new pitcher of iced tea. It was going to start warming up since May was nearly gone. I took a bottle of water with me to the basement but closed the door behind me. I wanted some peace and while the dogs were great company they had a tendency to be too needy at times. Pulling the mat out and switching the system on I sat down and desperately tried to clear my head.

The following morning came too quickly for me. The alarm went off and my body still ached in places I didn’t even know I had. Dressed and starting to stretch my arms out I went through the back door and immediately felt my pulse race as I approached.

We didn’t speak after the exchange yesterday. When I finished my yoga session he was already back in the house and meditating in the main room. He asked nothing of me and I never got the nerve to ask anything of him. It stayed that way for the day.

So my mind was racing over today. It was almost too terrifying just to walk up to him now. I stopped in my usual spot and waited as he turned around. The light was just barely forming over the edge of the fields.

“M…morning,” I barely choked out. There was no response, which didn’t surprise me, but the tense silence was horrible. He took a few steps forward and stopped right in front of me. The light behind him cast a dark shadow over me as he loomed over. A chill ran down my spine; this didn’t feel right.

“Today is simple; stay on your feet.”

Just as I was going to ask what that meant he lunged forward, placed his palm flat on my upper chest and shoved me back so hard I scrambled several steps back before landing hard on my rear. Wincing from the sudden _thunk_ I pulled my arms back and sat up, intending to get back on my feet. As I looked up, however, I froze at my seat. The look I saw wasn’t that of a calculating mentor. No, the Cell I was looking at was dark and increasingly menacing with each step he took toward me.

“What’s wrong? I thought I said _on your feet_…” I felt my breath hitch and I scrambled back up.

That tone was frightening. It was both mocking and had sadistic sarcasm dripping from it. As he took another step I shuffled back many more. The tiniest hint of a dark smirk flashed across his lips.

“Now that’s more like it.”

As I mustered some balance back he lunged again. I brought my arms up hoping to keep whatever strike he was going to take at bay, but he grabbed my right wrist and pushed my arm into my chest instead. Again I was flung back, hitting the ground again but managed to soften the landing this time and rolled out of it. My breath was shuddering as I got up and tried to scramble away, but he was much quicker. Not only did he catch up with me but he sidled in beside me, braced down on my shoulder and threw me sideways. I shrieked as I hit the dirt hard, a slew of profanities being tossed out as soon as I could breathe again. It was getting harder and harder to catch my breath and I felt the dizziness start catching up with me.

_‘What the hell?! Is this a punishment?’ _

He stepped in front of me and I started to pull myself up but so many different pains shot through me that I ended up crying out instead, feeling helpless as he knelt down before me.

“Guess you’re not as tough as you thought you were.” There was that cold tone again. He walked away as I lay there, breathing life back into my battered body. After a few moments I was able to sit up on my knees, glaring daggers at the back of the one I started to consider the worst teacher I could have ever asked for. What was the point of today’s lesson, if it could even be called that? The more I sat and thought, the more it felt like this was a punishment for not speaking to him yesterday. Guess I was right after all; he is an ass.

And apparently a sore loser too. I could almost play this entire day out in my head. He would keep knocking me down, belittle my attempts and wait me out until I’d apologize and give him his answers to make him stop. He was putting up this asshole act until he won. I clenched my fists and felt my teeth clench on their own as my anger spread.

_‘He just declared war on the most stubborn woman he will ever meet.’_

I took a sharp breath in, stood up, yanked my jacket off and tossed it aside. For a moment the aches shot through me but I refused to acknowledge them and marched across the grass. Angry was an understatement. I was _livid_. He turned to me before I made it across.

“Trying again already?” That bored tone he used just made me boil that much more. I bared my teeth slightly.

“I might not be tough, but I am damn stubborn.” I planted my feet and balled my hands to fists, “Just stay on my feet?” He looked me up and down suspiciously.

“That’s it.”

“Then let’s go.”

Once again he moved too fast for me to stay out of his reach but I was ready when he shoved again, knocking me back several feet but I kept myself up, shuffling my feet to keep my balance. I brought my arms up when he closed in again, swiping at his arm when he went for another strike. It really didn’t do anything but it definitely surprised him, and that was all I was going for. He tried again and I went for another swipe but his hands maneuvered so quickly around my arms I never saw how I got thrown to the ground this time. Growling loudly I ground my palms to the grass and pushed myself back up.

The pattern continued and time after time I got up, progressively slower as the pains started to hinder my stamina. But the more they burned the angrier and more determined I was. I couldn’t tell if this was what Cell was really aiming for, but if it wasn’t he didn’t seem to mind. There were no more snarky remarks, no more taunting to make me angry. Just another shove to the ground; sometimes using my arm for leverage to do so. My breaths were short, desperate and visible against the cool morning air. The condensation was fitting for my mood as the puffs curled around my face like angry smoke. I put my fist down, finding one last surge of energy to get on my feet again and stood up. A pain shot straight up my spine and I buckled a bit, biting back the cry that wanted to come up. I only caught a glimpse of my assailant and I didn’t even get a chance to brace for this one. My breath was knocked from me and I hit the ground one last time. My heart pounded, my head swam, and my energy had all but dissipated. I caught my breath back in gasps with occasional coughs in between. My eyelids fluttered and I caught the image hovering over me. His arms were crossed over in boredom.

“You’re done today. Same thing tomorrow.” With that he turned away and left my field of vision. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back into the grass, one arm tossed lazily over my forehead to keep the light from burning my eyes. Minutes ticked by and my body continued to ache everywhere. Tomorrow was going to hurt.

Those were the only words he spoke for the day. The only other evidence of him even existing on the property was the occasional empty glass on the counter when he gave in for water. At least I didn’t have to worry about that obstacle anymore. Hopefully if he was hungry he would be direct enough to just ask rather than wait until he was nearly passing out again. But I pushed that thought aside for now. I was more focused on the bruises that had formed _everywhere_. My hips had nasty splotches along the sides and my arms had smaller marks where he had grabbed them to toss me around. I sneered in the mirror and slipped into my pajamas. _Did he really have to leave bruises?_

I slid under the covers and the dogs jumped in the bed. The alarm was set but I was too scared to fall asleep. If I hurt this badly now what was tomorrow going to be like? And I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do. The faster I got back on my feet the quicker and harder he threw me to the ground. I guess the only thing I could do was just keep him from getting ahold of me long enough to throw me down.

I rolled to my side, gripped a pillow and curled my body around it. The minutes passed, which turned into an hour… I tossed and turned all night. Repeatedly kept checking the time to see how much longer until morning.

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when the alarm blared. Stiff and sore I rolled out of the bed and got dressed. I moved quicker down the hall when I realized the sun was threatening to crest. Today would have been a terrible day to be late. Exhausted and shaking I went out the door and headed across the yard. I couldn’t even mutter a greeting as he turned again. All I could think about was keeping my distance.

He didn’t need to say anything as he stepped forward again. My hands quivered and I shuffled in anticipation. His expression was the same one as yesterday. Cold, empty, and devoid of the attitude I was starting to miss. His eyes were just as empty.

I wasn’t balanced, wasn’t focused, and definitely not prepared for him when his arm went across my stomach and put me to the ground once again. My mind went blank as I was laid out flat on the grass. _‘Shit, this is gonna be over quick.’_

Rolling to my side as quickly as I could I got to my knees and trembled when my arms barely held myself up. I couldn’t even be angry anymore; my spirit was pretty much doused and not keeping me motivated. I brought my head up when I noticed he was back in front of me again, waiting for me to get back to my feet.

“Just tell me what you want…” I pleaded quietly, my eyes nearly brimming with misty tears. He didn’t respond but I watched his jaw clench tighter. I waited, not ready to get back up yet just to be knocked down.

“Get up.” My heart sank. That was all he wanted me to do. Get up and get knocked down. I swallowed hard and went for it, pushing everything into my heels and standing back up. He moved again but all I could do was flinch as he took his shoulder and got down low, practically under me, and got me airborne for a moment. The landing sucked for my ankles but at least it was different than just getting thrown. Catching a second wind I got up quicker this time and brought my arms up to maintain the little balance I was getting back. He lunged a bit slower with one arm extended and I shifted away from it, but he turned quickly and grabbed my arm. I tried to pull away but it only made him tighten his grip, yank me forward and let go only to shove me down from my back. I landed hard on my arms and the sudden jolt made me grunt loudly.

For a moment I was slightly upset that the grass wasn’t much of a soft landing, but I was jerked out of it as I was yanked back up from my arm again. I tensed up, ready to pull back from his grip but he ducked under me and I was suddenly rolled over his shoulder, flipped over and dropped hard on my back.

I literally could not breathe for a solid five seconds. I had felt the wind knocked from me plenty of times before but this one left me flat-out stunned. It was only when I tried to sit up that the pain finally hit. A loud groan followed after I started breathing again.

“Get up.” I heard the command but I was never going to react fast enough. He was suddenly over me, taking my jacket collar in his hands and yanked me upward. My hands immediately gripped his wrists to keep him from hauling me up from my neck, but as soon as my feet touched the ground he shoved me backwards. My feet were flying to try and catch myself but my balance failed once more and down I went, catching myself with my elbows. I grit my teeth as my body screamed from another hard landing.

My eyes squeezed shut for a moment and as they opened I saw Cell quickly dropping down over me with his arm pulled back. I just reacted; my arms came up and my knees snapped up.

I was pretty sure I screamed from the loud thud landing next to my head and my knee colliding with him for a moment, but the loud and angry cry I got in return snapped me out of my daze. Looking out from under my arms I saw his body hovering over me, shaking and heaving from his heavy breaths. His hand was tight against his mouth and my knees were pinned between his. _Oh shit._ Moving carefully I used my arms to shuffle out from under him, stunned at the outcome. I backed away and ignored my own pains as I sat and waited. My heart was pounding but I could feel the guilt forming as I realized that, while he was the most powerful weapon to exist, he was also still male.

And he was learning a very painful lesson right now.

It was hard not to try to comfort him as he strained to breathe. His other hand was clenched tightly on the ground next to his head, slightly dug into the dirt. So apparently he planned to drive the punch to the ground. His other hand left his mouth and came down to the ground for support.

“Ngh…fucking…HELL…!” This was bad if _he _was swearing. For years I have seen men get hit and just shake it off after a minute, but this almost seemed traumatizing to him.

“The pain does pass…give it a minute.” I spoke softly, unsure of what kind of reaction I was going to get. Another moment went by as his heavy breaths rocked his body once more before he finally looked up to me with a vicious look. I shuffled back quickly. That look was beyond furious and I did not want to be within an arm’s reach of him. He pushed down on the earth and managed to get up on one foot, but he was shaking as he struggled to get up on both legs. I met his stance quickly, fearing some sort of retaliation. The ache shot up my spine, making my legs buckle and I grimaced but stayed upright.

“Dammit,” he growled, “what the HELL was that!?” He shakily stepped forward and I braced myself.

“Hey now, don’t get angry! That was not on purpose!”

“I didn’t even know I had a weak point! How did you know!?” he snarled. My gut quivered but I felt my defensive side flying up at the outburst.

“Every guy does! But I have to REALLY fear for my life to use it!” He snarled again but looked away, wincing a bit as he did so. He was still pissed, and rightfully so, but hopefully the accident opened his eyes a bit more. He was not invincible here.

But I realized something too. That may not have been what I was aiming for, but I suddenly felt a bit of relief knowing I had a chance, slim as it may be, of bringing him to his knees if I really had to.

He turned away and started back towards the house, “We’re done today.”

Wow. He was mad enough to call off the rest of the day. I wasn’t about to argue: I hurt so damn much that a hot bath was a priority now. When he was a few more yards away I brushed myself off and followed him back in.

I soaked in the tub for almost an hour. The bruises were still there but not in obvious places that I couldn’t cover easily. I took my time drying my hair and getting dressed. It was cooler in the house than normal so my heavy sweats and a zipped hoodie were required before venturing back to the kitchen. I switched on the Keurig for a hot tea and started bustling around the cupboards for a mug and a plate for lunch.

Salad and mug in hand I rounded the corner to the main room and set them down on the end table. The laptop was on the couch so after pushing it over a bit I settled in with my food. Cell was cross-legged in front of the fireplace again. Slightly paranoid I watched the dogs closely to make sure they didn’t graze him, fearing his unpredictable mood could get them hurt.

Setting the empty plate aside I reached for the laptop. I sipped at my tea as I balanced the laptop on my legs. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting today but it kept me distracted for the moment. I checked the weather for the week, looked over some Ebay auctions I was watching, ran through a few social sites I was part of, and whatever else I could possibly do to keep myself from bothering the android with questions he wasn’t going to answer.

But I couldn’t settle the millions of thoughts buzzing in my head, taunting me with more ideas to get information.

How hard would it be to ask questions without directly asking him? The idea was devious but it could be worth a shot. If he was nasty about it I wouldn’t try it again. I sipped from my tea again to wet my tongue.

“It doesn’t make sense. You already have the ability to basically clone yourself, so you don’t need another way to reproduce. All I see is a glaring weakness.” I didn’t look up from the laptop as I paused, “Looks like Gero must have blanked on that one.” It stayed quiet. I grabbed my tea and sipped it again; he probably completely ignored that entire rant. Several moments passed by and it started to look that way until I heard him sigh.

“There was no weakness until my armor was gone…” There was that drop in his tone again with another reminder of his limitations. I slightly regretted bringing it up.

The day passed on to night and I headed to bed with the dogs leading the way. I crawled into bed with a peaceful reassurance that tomorrow was my off day and passed out.

I woke with the sun rising through my back window and stretched in the bed. There was pain but nothing to be distressed over. Kneading my sore feet and arms I took my time rolling from the bed and reached for my phone. It was 7:30. Musing over how easy it was to wake so early I stepped in the bathroom and prepared for the day.

I almost jumped when I passed by the back door and heard it open behind me. The cool breeze made goosebumps run along my arms before he turned and closed it. My tank top was definitely not enough for this weather just yet. I could tell from the grass stuck to the bottom of the pants that he was already done and I had missed him practicing again. Oh well. Starting my hot tea I turned to him as he walked through the kitchen.

“Mornin’,” I chirped as he brushed by, but then he stopped. Not sure of his intentions I turned again. “Wanna try something today…?” I started but slowed as he wasn’t looking at my eyes. He quickly raised his hand and I flinched but only from his thumb going over the small bruise he was staring at on my upper arm. His eyes trailed down as he scanned over each bruise on my arm, right down to the small ones on my wrist. I wasn’t sure how to respond so I just watched his expression change slightly with each mark he found. His arm fell to his side and I couldn’t help myself.

“Ha, those are nothing; you should see the ones on my hips!!” I laughed. His expression only made me laugh harder.

“You’re...not outraged?” So that was why he looked so bewildered. I dismissed the look with a small waive.

“Not really.” The brewer poured the hot water and I dipped the tea in the mug. “They’ll heal. Bruises are nothing new around horses. Hell, I’ve even got a chipped tooth from being knocked in the head.” I dropped an ice cube in the mug and reached for the honey. Stirring it in I looked up to him again, “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

His eyes were different today. After the past few days of cold emptiness it was refreshing to see a genuine reaction from him. The best way I could describe it was a mix of confused curiosity. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms as he looked me over once more.

“After the past two days how are you not angry? I did not go easy on you.” I stared back at him cradling my mug in my hands. Now he had me confused.

“I mean…I was definitely frustrated, but I don’t stay that way. Just wish I knew what you wanted me to do…” I took a sip and relished the heat warming my face. Then I gave him an odd look, “How are _you _not angry after yesterday? You have way more right than I do…”

“Much like you, I, too, can move on…” he offered a faint grin, “Looks like we are both learning.” With a giggle and bright smile I turned around and we headed for the main room.

When early afternoon came around I made my way to the kitchen for lunch. The dogs were let out to play so I started dragging out what I needed for my stir fry. Cell turned down the offer so I only cooked a portion for myself and made my way to the main room. He was already on the couch so I took the other end and dug into my bowl. It took a minute to adjust to him being on the furniture but apparently he had taken a liking to it. I could never tell when he was meditating or just being reclusive, but his eyes were normally closed so it could be meditation, just a more comfortable one…

I set the empty bowl aside and let the dogs back in. It got quiet. Way too quiet with the dogs sleeping on the floor instead of their usual antics. Cell had been quiet too since our first chat this morning. I kept my eyes away from him and looked down to the laptop. I pondered pulling it up but I wasn’t in the mood to read anything. The silence was boring but not uncomfortable since neither of us were holding grudges.

“Have you figured out what it was you did?” The question came out of nowhere so suddenly I nearly fell off of the couch. Wide-eyed I stared back, slightly unprepared with a decent answer.

“Uh…I got thrown around a lot…” I offered a sheepish smile. “But I’m not lying, the accident wasn’t intentional.” With a frown he shook his head.

“Hmph, well, accident or not, you did succeed. Not asking anything of you was intentional. I know you can take instruction and follow them well, but you need to be able to act without as well.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t payback?” He raised a brow.

“Payback?”

“From the other day, when I wouldn’t trade answers…I just figured you were getting back at me the past couple days…” His rumbling chuckle nearly had me blushing as his eyes met mine.

“It wasn’t meant to be a punishment, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t inspiration…” he grinned. “I had meant for the next two more days to start showing you how to find opportunities to take advantage of, however this world seems to make rules in your favor.” I held my tongue for a moment as I didn’t want to tread on a sore topic, “Consider this a one-time victory as I won’t be so careless next time.”

I sighed, “Even if you were being ruthless intentionally I wouldn’t go for that…” With a solid tone I added, “It won’t happen again. It’s a last-ditch effort.”

His eyes narrowed, “No need to concern yourself; I won’t let it happen.” He turned away slightly, “No need to endure that twice.”

A few tense moments passed.

“Do you still want to know of my own timeline?”

I held steady for a moment, remembering how that conversation last went, “Preferably without strings attached…” He grinned.

“There is no catch, I can assure you. You have earned this, so, if you are still interested, I can share.”

I wet my lips, my eyes wide with excitement. “That’s a timeline we never got to see or read about, it’s practically the Dark Ages for us…” I could hear his breath as he turned his body and faced me, which I mirrored and crossed my legs on the couch.

“You know the cyborgs were just as destructive as the ones from Trunk’s own timeline…and I was just as ruthless in my own path.” He was derailing the conversation, giving me a chance to back out. The only guess I had was that he didn’t want me to lose sleep over it. I had to put that fear to rest.

“Look,” I started, “I have a world of my own I fret over every day. Wars our country will not end, accidents that happen just in town and even in the family… I have to separate your world from mine completely. I can’t even feel empathy for the humans that have been killed there. I know there is no happy ending for that world.” I didn’t know how my voice sounded to him, but it felt shaky to me. I hoped it was convincing enough. Our eyes were set on each other for the moment.

“Very well. I gave you fair warning.”

My breaths steadied. Something that never came to the light of our screens or the page of a manga was going to be revealed from someone that shouldn’t have been alive to tell of it. I didn’t know what to expect or how he would tell the tale, so I kept an open mind.

“As you probably already know, my program is to be completed 24 years after the current timeline. I emerged into a world that your kind would certainly describe as ‘apocalyptic’. The cyborgs were ruthless in their quest to conquer the planet, in their own way, of course. The Dr. had never predicted that much destruction from the siblings…” I kept quiet. Yes I knew this much already, but this was a once in a lifetime moment. “I began my hunt for the bio-extract I needed to become strong enough to hunt down the cyborgs to become complete in that world. But humans were scarce…the population of the entire planet was cut by eighty percent. I was lucky to find small groups of humans in my initial travels, but days would pass between finding enough to bother chasing down.” 

He paused for a short moment.

“I had started hearing rumors from radios laying in the wreckage that the cyborgs had vanished…assuming that they were bored of killing I continued on but without an energy signature from them I could not sense them, only follow the trails of destruction I found. Weeks went by with only a few humans to give me small bouts of energy, but never enough to put me on par with the pair.” His tone stayed low and dark, almost like he didn’t want to tell the story but was doing it anyway.

“I followed an energy source to a city that several humans had begun to rebuild. I caught enough conversations to realize that they hadn’t vanished; they were completely destroyed. Denying it initially I rampaged and absorbed all of the humans there, finally obtaining enough bio-extract to overpower the cyborgs, but…” he slowed, “the realization of Dr. Gero’s dream had vanished with the pair. That no matter how many humans I absorbed I could never become complete and have the power I was designed to obtain.” He clenched his jaw, “I felt something I had never experienced before; something I never thought I could feel. It was worse than pain. Their destruction meant my goal was gone, my perfection unobtainable… In desperation I even thought of the dragon balls, but with Piccolo gone so were they…”

I was at a loss for words. My heart even ached a bit. But his sharp breath and gnashing of teeth quickly dashed that atmosphere.

“That moment yesterday…that feeling of nauseating weakness, to feel completely powerless; I never thought I would ever feel it again. But there it was; it brought me to my knees and reminded me of what this world had done to me.” He took a deep breath, “Despite the power I obtained I despised knowing that it would be nothing compared to having my complete power, so I blindly continued on. Motivated by what, I still can’t say, but something drove me to keep looking for hints, clues, anything to get them back. I followed more human settlements and the energy I could sense in the area around me, until I came across a particular time machine. From there you probably know the rest.”

I nodded, “Yeah, you pretty much took a gamble. Trunks was about to head back into the past, but even you didn’t know how far back or if you’d be able to find the cyborgs then either.”

“After losing everything that timeline had to offer it was hardly a gamble. I could have cared less if I was the strongest or not, my completion was a primal instinct programmed in me.” He mused to himself for a moment, “Ironic that the phrase ‘hope’ written on the machine was meant for Trunks’ success while I saw it as my last chance at changing my future.”

“Well, glad you went for it! We got the best story and the most amazing fights from that choice,” I giggled. A few new questions started to bubble up and he must have recognized that blank look on my face from last time.

“More questions?” his one brow arched up. The temptation for more answers was more than I could keep to myself.

“Yeah, but more like ‘what if’. Would it be a bother?” He shook his head.

“Not at all. I seem to be in a mood for such an engagement today.” Nodding in response I sat up straighter.

“Okay, let’s say the time machine had never been built. Like, a major component was never discovered or someone didn’t survive to build it. Did you have a plan once you realized the cyborgs were gone for good?”

He seemed to dwell on the question for a moment. But he shook his head once more. “I couldn’t have. My purpose was to become complete, so I could not look beyond that. Without that goal I would have no other direction to follow.”

That one thought bothered me. How could so much have been hanging by that one chance to travel through time? I had to keep poking for information. “Dr. Gero always seemed to be one step ahead of himself though. Did he really count on you being able to find the cyborgs over 20 years later? Perhaps he knew about time travel but couldn’t discover it on his own and counted on you to figure it out?”

I never thought he was capable of a complete blank stare. But there it was, perfectly coupled with a few slow blinks. “I wasn’t provided with any new knowledge or theories on time travel. My only experience was using the machine the Briefs had built which basically removed the theories that existed.”

Well this started to sound awfully ridiculous. “So Gero took the gamble then. He banked on a 20+ year program to not be discovered AND be able to find the last two components, which were alive and moving of their own desires, without some sort of backup plan? That’s freaking insane!” He started to chuckle from my outburst.

“You make it sound as though the twins weren’t predictable. Rebellious, yes, but not capable of thinking much beyond what the good Dr. had given them. The great power they were given tends to create an immature mindset, more focused on instant gratification and emotionally-based decisions. Teenage humans have created their own stereotype based on these particular traits and the twins were no different, if not worse. I would say it was a fairly safe bet to keep the two alive and easy to track down as they had no knowledge of the purpose they needed to serve. The odds of them being destroyed before my completion was very slim possibly zero when time travel couldn’t have been a known factor.”

Now I felt foolish for even questioning it. Of course Dr. Gero wouldn’t be concerned for his projects when he created them knowing that they had faults and traits that he could prepare for. And Cell was definitely right on the destructive twins from his original timeline and the one Future Trunks came from. It may not have been quite as accurate in the current timeline, but the story was completely changed from the two traveling to the same timeline anyway. I had to concede.

“Well I can’t argue with that logic. Keeping them strong but clueless makes them controllable without them realizing it…”

He nodded with a small grin, “Now you get the concept.” One last thought crossed my mind.

“If Gero was still alive now…anything you would want to say to him?”

“I would thank him for my successful creation.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. I have no desire to take orders or be given any other goals that may or may not matter to me. I created the tournament for the sole purpose of defeating Goku in front of a worldwide audience. I would not want that choice questioned for any reason. In fact had the Dr. attempted to intervene I may have taken the same route the cyborgs resorted to and eliminated him myself.” My eyes were wide from that bit, but I took it as it was and didn’t probe any further. I hummed a satisfied sound and turned away, content with the answers.

“You have no other questions?” I shook my head in dismay.

“Sorry, that’s it for now. I’m sure there’s more but nothing overly thought-out yet.” I glanced back over my shoulder. “If I catch you in another good mood maybe we can do this again,” I winked with a smile. He crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch again, a small grin across his features. I leaned forward with my chin in my hands but felt an ache in my back, reminding me of the past two days, and started wondering about tomorrow. In theory tomorrow shouldn’t be like the last couple days, but with the pain I had now I couldn’t handle not knowing what was going to be expected of me. I kept my eyes away as I steadied myself. Why was it so difficult for me to ask about the lessons he was giving me? And it had nothing to do with him; it was all in my own mind holding me back. He has been proving the entire time he has been here that he’s open for conversation, and yet here I was, still holding back despite all of it.

That was it. I had to start facing that fear. I took a breath and glanced ever so slightly, “What’s tomorrow going to be like? Will the lesson be different?” My pulse was flying. That fear of offending him or questioning his methods was at siren-blaring levels now. He shifted to face me, paired with an odd look on his face.

“Did the last lesson scare you? Do you think knowing what is expected of you will somehow prepare you for the next one?” I suddenly felt the size of an ant. What I would have given to just disappear from the room right now and pretend I never even asked. I swallowed hard as my mind screamed ‘yes the last days were horrible!’ but I kept it inside.

“I was just curious…I don’t know if it would help…” I was stuttering like a fool, not sure where to go with that thought. But I definitely had his attention now as he turned on the couch, not leaning into it anymore. The look he was giving me was clear; he expected me to talk.

“Speak truthfully; did the last lesson scare you?”

I shook my head furiously, “No, not really…”

He glared daggers at me, “You’re lying.”

My hands were flying up as I got expressive, “No, I’m not! The lesson wasn’t the issue at all!”

“Then what was the issue?” I didn’t want to answer fearing he would drop the lessons altogether and I stiffened up. But he didn’t tolerate the silence. “Answer me.”

“…it’s just…it was…you.”

“Explain.”

I took a deep breath, not ready to explain this one at all. “The lesson was rough…but…that’s fine! I can handle that…but if you’re mentally not there, no attitude, no personality…you may as well have been a robot.” He kept that stare without even batting an eye, “Learning to fight is awesome but if it’s not with you then there’s no point. You could be trying to teach me quantum physics, it’s still the idea that I’m learning from you! I want _you _throwing me to the ground, making me get up again and do it all over again, not a shell of you, not something I can’t read…” I stopped, realizing I was rambling just utter nonsense, but I hoped I got some sort of message across.

He was in some sort of contemplating state, not looking at me but not ignoring me either. Then he looked up, “You are afraid of me when you cannot predict me? Am I understanding this correctly?” I gave a half-nod, trying to keep from outright admitting to fear. “Either you’re afraid or you’re not, there is no in-between.” The words I needed finally came to me.

“I want to look forward to each morning. I was terrified to walk outside the past two days because I didn’t know if I should be afraid or not. That’s why I can’t say I am scared…I don’t know if I ever should be. And you giving me the silent treatment makes the uncertainty worse…” The oddest look crossed his face.

“You’re scared to be scared?” I couldn’t help myself and I started laughing.

“Oh my God, yes! That’s sounds absolutely ridiculous, but yes!”

His stunned reaction was the greatest scene to grace the planet. “This makes absolutely no sense! You don’t know if you’re supposed to be scared, so your reaction is to be scared?”

“But not of you. That’s what is so funny about it…”

“Now hold on.” Somehow this conversation had completely turned and my focus was spot-on. The shakes in my gut were gone and I couldn’t wait for the next line. “How can you say with 100% certainty that you’re not afraid of me?”

“This wouldn’t be happening if I was!” my hands gestured between us. “I could never confidently converse with someone I was terrified of!” I could feel it; the adrenaline rush I was getting just from this little bit was invigorating. It was nothing like the shakes I had when I was talking with the authorities or people who had less-then honest motives. This was fun. This was the part of him I could enjoy having in the house.

But he was clearly confused. “I’m not sure I can follow this. Your logic is contradictory and, for lack of a better word, weird.” I turned my palms up in surrender.

“Well, I’m female, get used to it.”

“I do not see where gender plays a role here.” My jaw nearly hit the floor! If he didn’t think that would matter he clearly had no idea what stereotypes there were for women in every household.

“Women are a disaster to work with! We have crazy hormones, moods that fluctuate wildly _with _those hormones, and one little thing can take a normal day and make it the worst day of our lives. Trying to handle me will be the greatest challenge you’ve ever taken!” A very evil grin suddenly stretched across his face.

“Please, Vegeta has more violent mood swings than you could ever pretend to conjure,” he chuckled. But as luck would have it, I had my counter ready.

“His moods don’t swing! Vegeta’s default emotion is anger,” we laughed. Yeah, I knew he would never get the reference, but it was a true enough statement either way.

“Fair enough. I’ll give you that one.” Suddenly I saw exactly what he saw on me every time I had a question bothering me. That questioning curiosity was clear as day on his face. “Can I ask you some specific questions?” I held off for a moment as he liked to push a particular question quite a bit but he sensed that hesitation right away. “Not that question, something different. Ones that will help both of us.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “K, sure. What’s up?”

“When you were in your studies, did you learn from a lecture or from reading a book?”

“I learned more from lecture.”

“Were you able to work alone or did you learn more in groups?” I was torn on this one.

“Depended on the group, but if it was taken seriously, I like discussing with others.”

“Should I assume that visual representations are more effective than written ones?” I had to roll that sentence around a few times in my head.

“If you mean visual learning, then yeah, I suck with descriptions in a book,” I laughed, starting to see what he was getting at. With a grin he nodded.

“Alright, get some much needed rest tonight. I can see now I’ve been approaching this from the wrong angle. We are trying something different tomorrow.”

“Really?” He nodded.

“Not gonna tell me?” He shook his head.

“Awwwwww…”

“I have made it a point to _not _tell you anything. I want to see your learning curve untainted by that computer you like to use so much.” I looked down to the laptop.

“How would _that_ change anything?” He leered at the piece of technology.

“If you were aware of any particular methods I was going to experiment with your curiosity tends to lead you astray, looking up videos or anything that could reference what you think you ‘need’ to do rather than what you will naturally do. It is much more effective for me to change my teaching methods rather than try to read what reactions are natural for you and which ones you read about and are trying to replicate.”

“I guarantee all of my reactions are going to be genuine, you move too fast for me to think out what I should do! Unless you decide you’re going to slow down and explain what you’re going to do, I can’t plan anything, just flail about until I accidently find the answer…” He shrugged lightly.

“I prefer not taking the chance at all. So every day will be a mystery for you. Which works out for me if I decide to change something on an impulse.” Well that pretty much closed the case for that conversation. I couldn’t argue though; the mystery sounded like a lot more fun. But one final thought crossed my mind.

“Do I really have to worry? Is there any lesson that I should be afraid of?” There was that sexy grin again.

“Don’t be late.” Oh, right. I didn’t even think over this one.

“Deal.” We shared the laugh.

The next morning I woke with a fresh mind. Fear nothing and trust his word. I bounded out the back door dressed in fresh clothes and beat the sunrise with time to spare. And when he turned to face me the greeting was back to normal, his expressions and personality back in full swing. Our exchanges fed off of each other and there was no hesitation from either of us. He put forth a challenge, I met it. He raised the bar; I either took it head-on or failed flat on my face. Either way, he kept posing different challenges and I kept going for it, not ever wanting to back down ever again. The entire morning was exhausting fun.

And I counted on it to stay that way.

I grabbed my shower afterwards and munched on breakfast. Early afternoon came around and I finished up the chores scattered around the house and decided to lounge in the main room for a bit. Stepping around the corner I scanned the room again to see he had already beaten me to the couch.

But there was one small, cute difference.

Lati was standing right in front of him with her pom-pom of a tail failing impatiently. I stood and stared, almost ready to step in and take her away to keep from bothering him, but something stopped me. I couldn’t say what exactly, but the way she was starting to dance around with her tail still flailing was definitely her way of trying to get someone to play, which was odd. Cell had made it very clear to both girls in their first meetings that they were not welcome as entertainment or companions so they had stopped their efforts fairly quickly. He wasn’t mean about it; he just made the boundaries clear. He tolerated their existence and that was it.

So the fact that she kept dancing around him was starting to make me wonder. Balla stayed at my side as she took Cell’s warnings a bit more seriously than Lati did and followed me as I took a few steps closer, trying to see what was going on before sitting down on the couch. Normally just showing up would get her attention enough to forget what she was focusing on, but whatever Cell was doing had her complete attention.

My curiosity got the best of me, “Alright, what are you doing? She’s practically losing her mind…” I giggled. His eyes opened but his arms stayed crossed. He glanced from me back to Lati; she bounced on her front paws impatiently as soon as he acknowledged her. I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me as he kept his stone gaze on her overly excited one.

Suddenly he pulled his arm out and revealed what had my poor puppy so distraught: a pink hollow ball was in his hand that he had intentionally kept out of sight. But not just any ball.

Her _favorite _ball.

She panted noisily and bounced on her paws again waiting impatiently for him to throw it. I smiled and relaxed knowing what was going on now. But he clearly had no idea what he had just done to himself. I giggled aloud.

“Ooooh boy, you’re doomed now,” I smirked as his head turned slightly to me. “Once that ball hits the ground it counts as playing fetch. You’ll be her best friend,” I laughed again. He turned his focus back and stared at her as she kept frantically dancing around and flailing her tail. Moments passed as both Lati and I waited to see what would happen.

He suddenly grinned and lightly tossed the ball to the air and she happily leapt up to snag it in her teeth. Stepping back up to him she dropped it and let it roll to bump into his leg, tail wagging wildly. He picked it back up and she started prancing around again. He tossed it farther this time and she bolted to grab it before it got to the wall of the room. Balla suddenly joined in on the fun and chased after the next toss. I watched the comical scene play out without a word as they kept bringing the ball back and he kept tossing it, occasionally doing a fake toss just to see if they’d run for it. Balla never fell for those tricks but Lati did several times before catching on.

The game went on for a few minutes before Balla grabbed the ball and goaded Lati into a tug-of-war match. He sank back into the couch and I flashed a huge grin as I sat down and joined him.

“Never in a million years would I expect that from you…”

“At first I had planned to simply hide it until she left, but she realized I had it fairly quickly. She is a very persistent creature.” He crossed his arms again and a sigh passed through his lips, “While still very primitive, the energy they display is almost addicting. I can understand why humans cannot resist the need to reciprocate.”

“Well they are considered ‘man’s best friend’ for a reason. I actually prefer my horses and cats to dogs but my husband was a dog person through and through. So when the opportunities came up he didn’t hesitate and we got Balla. Lati came a little over a year later when Karen had her first litter…” I grinned at the memories, “It was fun. I turned into a dog-person easier than I thought I would.” He chuckled suddenly and I felt that spark fly up my spine again. I always hoped he never noticed how much I enjoyed that sound.

“I am not surprised in the very least. You take pride in every creature under your care, that much is very clear. Even the spiders that cross your path aren’t killed; you’ve taken the time to catch each of them and set them outside. I cannot say the same for humans that cross your path, especially the digital encounters.” I smiled at the sudden topic switch.

“I’m not necessarily anti-social, but my job was in retail. It teaches you two things: to lose faith in humanity but to be able to put on a smile and keep doing your job. When you spend hours dealing with so many customers with so many different situations you almost want to spend your days off away from everyone…” My eyes darkened a bit as I recalled the encounters with people after the funeral too. If anything else made me lose faith in humanity more than retail, it was definitely after a lawsuit.

A knock at the door nearly made me jump from the couch. I looked through the window and saw a car I didn’t recognize. Casting a leery glance to Cell I stood and went for the door, telling the dogs to stay where they were. Pulling the door open a middle-aged woman, whom I didn’t recognize, stood smiling brightly back at me.

“Good afternoon!” she started, “Fantastic weather we are having today! Has your day been good so far?” I held it in but inside I was laughing; this was a pretty good attempt at a sales pitch. Definitely a good approach with a positive attitude; I had to give her that much credit. Foolishly I fed into it a bit.

“Yes, great weather and a pretty good day too.” I held off after that. I had to see what her spiel was.

“Well let’s see if we can make your day great too. Come, please, I have several works in the car for you to see.” Works? A few products started to form in my head, like art, carvings, or homemade trinkets. Curious, I went through the screen door but left the main door open. Stepping down the path I waited as she opened the car door and pulled out a few pamphlets. My heart sank as I realized what I had fallen for.

“Tell me, what is your greatest wish? What desire would you like to see for the world?” I raised a brow, but figured a few beat-around-the-bush answers would get me by.

“I have many things I’d like to see done. Get our government to stop spending billions on wars all over the world, make it easier to visit other countries, lower taxes so we keep more of what we earn…ya know, things that should be givens in this world.” I was on the border of full-lecture mode on politics and economics, but I held my tongue. If I had to give her a lecture to make her leave, I’d pull it out when it was necessary. She pulled out one of the papers.

“And in the next Kingdom, God has all of those for you. He who provides for those who have faith and have accepted Him into our hearts as to grant us passage through His son, Christ the Lord. Have you accepted him into your heart and prepared for your place in His Kingdom? It is never too late to begin a path and be forgiven.” I held back all of the horrid things I normally would like to say and took the higher path.

“I’m not interested in what happens after, I’m more interested in fixing what’s wrong in this world and my life right now…” I bit my lip after I thought about how much truth there was in that line. Oh well, she wouldn’t know what I meant. I took a step towards the house ready to end the mess I got into.

“Please, Ms. Seily, there is no reason to hide from the past. We at the Lord of New Life would happily accept you with open arms and open hearts. Your late husband would be proud to see you prepare yourself for when you meet with him again…”

My heart immediately started to burn and my eyes misted over. Her tone was not as cheery anymore and had turned solemn. This was an honest attempt at guilt-tripping me into joining a church. I turned with the little control I had left and faced her.

“Not interested, but thanks for the offer.” Damn it, I needed to get a backbone with this, but she had me outside so I couldn’t just close the door on her. I took another step.

“Greed is a terrible sin. Think of all the good you can do with the generous donations you could share! The children fed, the elderly having somewhere to turn to in their own times of need…your loss is the greatest gift you can give back to the world! You were awarded several millions for the loss of your husband; wouldn’t that be a start to the better world you want?” I was angry but didn’t want to make excuses. I needed to use facts, not angrily lashing out.

“If you had any understanding of the world then you would know that is not how things get fixed. The world is so worried about take, take, take and not about earning! And the church offers nothing of value to me.” Again I took a step but she suddenly ran up to me. I was nearly on the edge of bolting to the door; I have never had anyone this persistent.

“Please, you have more than enough to keep yourself fed and housed while hundreds just in this county alone starve and sleep in the streets! Do you not have the room in your heart to help them? Do you not want Him to see your deeds and make sure you are set on the path to Heaven?” This was getting ridiculous. I heard the door open behind me but didn’t get a chance to turn towards it. She took my hands into hers and held tight even as I tried to pull back.

“The others said you wouldn’t agree but I told them I could prove them wrong! That I could show you that you just need guidance! Do you want others to think that of you? That you’re no longer able to be saved? So many knew of your husband and his family and they know you are a better person…!” I finally pulled my hands from her.

“Look, I do not want to be mean, but you need to take my ‘no’ and go. I am not giving away anything and I don’t share what I don’t have! Now, please, find someone else that ‘needs saving’…” I trailed off as I saw Cell walking past us and up to the side of her car. She didn’t pay attention as she continued to rattle off things that I hardly heard anymore. My eyes shifted from Cell back to her; she hadn’t noticed him standing by her car.

“At least consider the children who would benefit from a few dollars a week! You could fund their colleges, their less-fortunate families they come from, how can you sit back with millions when they have none!?” Again I rattled off I had no millions to share but noticed Cell suddenly reach under the car and tilted it up so the one sides’ tires were off the ground. She continued her prattling as I saw him grab hold of something sturdy, and with a lot less effort than I expected, lifted it straight off the ground. My jaw fell at the sight and my eyes refused to blink. I looked back down to the woman.

“Are you listening, this is a very dangerous world we live in, why wouldn’t you want the safety of Heaven’s Kingdom waiting for you?” At this point I just shrugged and waited. It was just a matter of time before she looked over her shoulder. I glanced over and watched as he literally carried the car to the end of the driveway. My hand came up to my mouth and I covered the small smile that was forming. He was nearly there.

“Excuse me, Miss! Which way were you heading!?” he called back to us and I looked at her as she suddenly turned around. She dropped the papers to the ground and the absolute shock on her face was priceless. My giggles started to slip through but I kept my hand steady to keep them stifled. She was dead silent, staring at the android currently holding her car over his head, waiting for her answer. “While this is not a bother, I do require an answer. I would rather not inconvenience your departure.” I could see the grin on his face from here. Again she started sputtering absolute nonsense and made several gestures over her head and chest with the rosary beads she had. I leaned in close.

“Might want to give him an answer before he just drops the car in the ditch,” I jeered. She looked at me and back to him quickly.

“You’re both going to Hell! You both are of the Devil himself! He will be vanquished! You are plagued with sin itself!” She started down the driveway, looking back to Cell and back to me, “We will pray for you! We will vanquish the evil!” She moved quicker, getting to the end of the driveway and I watched as she pointed in a direction. He set the car down gently, much to my surprise, in the direction she pointed. I half-expected him to throw the car as easily as he hoisted it. She shouted several similar phrases to him as she started it up and floored it, leaving Cell in a cloud of dust as he sent her off with his traditional two-finger waive. I was halfway down the driveway by now, still stunned by the hysterical display of power and complete control of the situation. The dust settled and the proud android stood there, arms crossed, clearly satisfied with the reactions he got.

I settled in next to him, looked down the road to see the car flying to the corner and squealing the tires as she turned and floored it. As it buzzed out of sight I shook my head and looked up at him. His eyes met mine and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Doubling over I let out the best laugh I’d had in years. The tears formed in the corners of my eyes and I could hear his light chuckle. As soon as it was out of my system I looked back up at him.

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to deal with nuts like that in your world?” I smiled brightly. That sexy smirk spread across his face.

“Now what would you have done if I had not scared her off? You need to be more assertive in your demands.” With another giggle I brought my hands up.

“Why would I? I’ve got you!” With a genuinely happy smile I turned and headed back up to the house.

Thanks for all your support!


	11. So Much Foreshadowing

Chapter 11

So Much Foreshadowing

We carried on back in the house after the encounter with the bible thumper. Cell was slightly miffed that these visits existed, but even more so when I told him that this was not a one-time offense.

“Most of my in-laws are very religious and think they have the best of intentions when they offer ‘help’,” I started. We were facing each other on the couch again, enjoying the open atmosphere it provided for our conversations. “Some of the aunts and uncles used to stop by at first, just to talk and see how things were going, but then they’d offer counseling from their pastors or support groups. And I always turned it down, gently at first…” I grimaced.

“Do you not partake in cultural affairs with other humans? I thought that was an important factor of human civilization?” I shook my head.

“I hate organized religion. I don’t consider myself atheist only because ghosts and paranormal stuff still gets to me. But to believe everything is caused by a sentient being because it is too improbable to have been by accident is so ignorant… it just underestimates the power nature has.” I lowered my chin into my hands and sighed. “Since the family credits their faith for their success and lives I tolerate their rambling, but I made it clear it was my choice whether to partake or not. Some were fine and left it at that…but others, not so much.” 

“What did you use to cope during your grieving then? Surely you found another method of your own?” I looked back up to him.

“Some friends suggested yoga. When I quit my job I realized sitting alone with my own dark thoughts was dangerous, so I found some motivation and signed up. We met twice a week but it was enough to break out of those thoughts. I found my own practices in between and used that to keep my mind from wandering...”

He kept probing, “What other thoughts kept intruding?”

“There were days all I could think about was how I wanted the police force to die in horrible accidents, that karma would make its way back around. It got worse when journalists kept referring to the incident as ‘the drug deal that got busted at the government building’. The case got so much local media coverage that I woke up to it nearly every day; the internet, Facebook, and don’t even get me started on customers at work...”

“I thought you said the case was resolved as an accident? Was that overlooked?” I grimaced at the reminder.

“No one cared months later. All they cared about was the first few weeks and forgot about it when the news stopped covering it. I would see people blog about it and out of stupid curiosity I would read it…” I laughed, but not out of humor. “I was so fucking stupid to think that people would actually discuss facts and not just buy what the media had written…” Another snort, “But then the articles were titled ‘Widowed woman wins court case in wrongful death settlement’, and I thought everyone would know what really happened and I wouldn’t get judged anymore. I couldn’t have been more wrong.” He read the situation clearly.

“They only believed the misinformation.” A sad smile was all I could offer him. “How frequently did you deal with this?”

“At first it was just random strangers on the computer, so I swore off of the internet for a bit. But the first few visits with relatives were hard. They kept offering help and even after saying no several times they were still very persistent. I skipped out on a few family events and that’s when I had my first real conflict. One of my cousins showed up; one I hadn’t seen for a few years at that point. She insisted that I needed to be with family and started to mention calling the authorities about my mental state, so that’s when I backed her into a corner, threatened her for trespassing and attempted kidnapping. I told her if she came back she was going to be hauled out by the police. I haven’t heard from that particular part of the family since.”

“That sounds like ridiculous drama to me.” I laughed aloud this time.

“It was. I told the rest of the family what happened and it’s pretty much over. I’ve been to a couple of small gatherings since then and we still crack stupid jokes about it. That’s why I didn’t know what to do with this woman. I couldn’t threaten her with the police and I didn’t know if she was sent by family or if she came out on her own…”

He chuckled again, “And here I thought you had the nerve to call her out. Are you afraid of offending people?” I shrugged.

“Kinda. It depends on how much I respect them. I have my opinions, I defend them, and if they’re offended by what I have to say then I drop it. But something about this woman just struck a nerve. I couldn’t tell if she was being ignorantly inconsiderate or just trying to do what she thought was in society’s best interest…or her church’s…” I suddenly felt a need to lighten the mood, “Just ignore it next time and I’ll totally have them gone by sunset!”

He raised one brow and the air was suddenly very awkward. I sighed in defeat.

“Or just come out again and make sure to throw the car this time, that’s fine with me too.” He gave me the grin I was hoping for.

“The act was reckless and probably foolish for me to do, but it definitely improved your day.” The reminder had me laughing again.

“Oh man, it was priceless! I really wish I had my phone with me to film it! I don’t care if it was risky, I think it was totally worth it…”

“So, do you think that episode will keep her kind away for a few weeks?”

I giggled through my response, “Well if it means you showing off more maybe I’ll look forward to them!”

He flashed a big grin and his eyes were bright with mischief. I didn’t want to read too much into what kind.

The next morning officially started the second week of practice. I was out of bed, dressed and searching for a tie to pull my hair up. The slam of each drawer echoed in the bathroom as I searched desperately, trying to find one before the sun rose. Finding no such luck I dove into pockets of jackets, hoodies and jeans until I found a stray one. I looked out back and realized I was out of time and took off down the hall.

My hands furiously combed back my dark auburn hair, trying to get the occasional snags out and pull the loose ends out of my face. The humidity was always low at this hour so it wasn’t frizzy, but the shorter curls did tend to find their way into my eyes and mouth even when it was pulled back.

“Not prepared this morning, I see…” That was definitely a teasing tone so I didn’t panic as I pulled my hair through the tie a few times.

“I’m ready…see!” I pulled my hands away and the ponytail sat high on my head, ready to start the day. “I got stuck looking for a tie, I’ve managed to lose an entire pack of them again…” He gave me an odd look.

“Why don’t you cut it? There would be no need for such unnecessary items if it was short enough.” I shook my head furiously.

“Eww, no. I won’t cut it shorter than my shoulders… I don’t even want to know what short hair would look like on me.” After thinking another moment I shuddered, “And it would have to be _really_ short to keep it out of my face,” I stuck my tongue out in disgust. He shrugged.

“Just suggesting a solution to your issue.” I grimaced back.

“It’s not an issue.”

“It is both a distraction and a weak point for an opponent to take advantage of.” There was a sudden tone shift; he was being surprisingly adamant over it. But there was no way I was going to let him convince me no matter how solid his point was going to be. Short hair on me was ugly, plain and simple.

“And anyone who does use it is a _little bitch_.”

Oh, that wide-eyed expression on his face was totally worth it!

“I…beg your pardon!?” I kept my straight face and crossed my arms with a nod.

“A _little bitch_. Pulling hair is a cat fight between girls… no honorable man would pull a _girl’s _hair to win a match. _Ever._” Actually I knew deep-down any fight I would probably be in would be with a dirty loser that would use any tactic possible if it meant winning, and certainly not just limited to hair-pulling. But if Cell had planned on making an example of it at any point in today’s lesson he knew what would be coming after.

But, really, being able to call him a little bitch for that bit of discomfort almost sounded worth it.

His stunned reaction faded away as his arms crossed over his chest and he moved from the bit of sunlight that was creeping through the overcast morning. It was chilly and still fairly dark because of it, but I had gotten used to the dark mornings a few times already.

“What do you hope to accomplish with this? Each morning you stand here, what do you think it will amount to in the end?”

I chewed on that for a moment. What _was_ I hoping to accomplish? Other than the fact that just being around him has been a treat in itself…

“Well, I’d like to know I can handle myself if something comes up. If some punk knocks me down and steals my purse I want to know I can chase him down and whoop his ass,” I grinned. That was just one of several things I wanted but that was the most obvious choice.

“Simple enough. But that is a rare situation you will find yourself in. What if you were up against two opponents?” I hesitated for a moment. What kind of trouble would I get into to have two people mad at me?

“I guess if it’s two people I hope I’m with a group too and wouldn’t be on my own…” He shook his head quickly.

“I am simply trying to decipher which situations I should be preparing you for. While learning to block and counter accordingly are excellent skills to have you should be prepared for more common dangers. Humans are ambush creatures; any frontal attacks are displays of power and do not typically have lethal intentions.”

That line sparked a concern, “Actually _that’s_ more of my goal…how to prevent getting jumped in the first place. The fighting is only if it gets to the point where I have to fight for my life.”

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. Let us suppose you’re past the point where you can prevent or run from the situation. Now what? How far are you willing to go to defend yourself?”

“I really don’t want to kill anyone…just keep myself from being killed. The only situation I really fear is a weapon being pulled on me, mainly a gun.”

“That should be the situation to fear the least. Too many people count on their weapons and have no natural fighting instincts. A gun is the easiest; keep moving and stay unpredictable. A moving target is a difficult target to hit. The next step would be disarming your opponent, which could be our next direction in your lessons.” I threw my arms up in front of me, feeling terribly overwhelmed.

“Whoa, hold on. Isn’t it just safer to comply and play along? Majority of the time they just want to steal something, not kill. You get serious jail time for killing; not so much for petty theft,” I laughed. I did realize he was showing me a worst-case scenario, but this felt like the last thing I should be learning. He huffed just loud enough for me to hear.

“And what do the statistics show? How often do people survive these encounters?” I was not prepared for a random fact quiz, but I wasn’t completely clueless.

“It’s well over 50/50. It’s usually safer to not challenge someone.”

“So you’re content with not being killed half of the time? That is quite the gamble with something as irreplaceable as your life.”

True.

“But fighting back can take a situation that wasn’t going to escalate and turn it into a homicide real quick. People committing crimes don’t exactly think rationally. If they think they’re in control it is better to leave it that way, unless it is a very different situation…” It was clear he did not like how much I was challenging this. His stance was stiff, his face completely stoic, even slightly twitching out of some sort of pent-up stress. I swallowed hard, suddenly fearing he was going to lose his temper all at once on me.

“I will say this once.” He didn’t yell, but it sure did boom across the yard. “You will fight _every single time_ your life is threatened. I don’t care if you’re odds are 50/50 or one in a million. I will not have any student of mine killed on the off-chance that the situation was not in their favor and they did nothing to sway it. You will fight. Are we clear?”

Eyes wide I stuttered back, “Y…yes sir!” That was different. He was so heated up over something so unlikely…

But I could see it from his angle too. Why risk dying in a situation he could prepare me for? Especially if I could learn everything he could offer since I was never going to have a better instructor for the rest of my life.

“Okay, okay. I will fight. But if I ever get in over my head you better be there to save me,” I grinned, desperately hoping he would lighten up.

Ever so slightly his expression changed, “You don’t mind the damsel-in-distress cliché?”

“Well you obviously don’t mind the chivalry role,” I jeered, really hoping that the recent mood was finally dissipating.

There it was. One corner of his lip turned up in a cocky smirk. “Very well. Since we have the boundaries set, shall we begin?”

That week was exhausting but fun. The only weapon that was pulled out was just a big stick from the woods and I got to wield it. Even after all of the different things I tried he made it clear he only needed a human-level effort to counter and disarm me every single time. As the days passed I felt my own confidence building but he held off letting me take a turn until my combat skills improved.

Week three rolled around and I had already been promised that he was taking my combat skills to a higher level. We stood out in the yard again, ready in opposing stances. He was completely defensive and I was prepared to be full-out offensive. The goal was simple: make physical contact just once.

Or at least I thought it would be simple. He was fast, unpredictable and had way more stamina than I could ever ask for. I was slick with sweat and gasping for breath as I nearly had to sprint in between my attacks just to catch back up with him. I could feel my own stamina starting to improve and I could nearly go an entire hour before he called for a break.

I spent the time stretching before jumping into the second half. Just as he set up to start again I reached up to pull out my ponytail and reset it. All of the bouncing around had loosened it and I didn’t need that discomfort slowing me down. He quirked his brow.

“Distracted?” I thought nothing of it and quickly apologized for the holdup.

“Yeah, sorry, it was just a bit loose.” I didn’t wait another moment as I picked up where we left off and lunged at him with my fists ready. After seeing his movements for the past hour already it wasn’t a shock when he easily stepped out of range but then he darted around me. I already had my weight shifted back to turn around until my head was violently yanked back by my ponytail.

It caught me so off-guard that I needed a few moments to get my balance back, but the gaping and accusing look I threw back at him were all I could do at the moment. He stepped back a few feet, palms turned up to the air with a mocking grin.

“What? You said it wasn’t a distraction or a weak point.” I snarled and narrowed my eyes threateningly.

“Oh no, that’s not gonna fly with me.” His eyes lit up, completely the opposite of how mine probably looked. Pissed was definitely not a strong enough word for the moment. He darted forward, shuffling his feet as I completely went defensive to keep him in front of me but it didn’t matter. I was faked out quickly and I felt another hard tug on my ponytail.

“You mother…!” I tried to swipe behind me but as I tried he took my arm, flipped me around and next I knew I was sprawled to the ground. I coughed for my breath and opened my eyes to see him looming over me.

“Ah ah ah, watch that tongue.” I moved my legs as fast as I could, hoping to strike his, but he leaped over them with such little effort it almost seemed like he had his power back. Growling and throwing my arms in front of me I got back to my feet quickly and lunged again, flailing for any decent contact with nothing but burning anger fueling me. Not even a second later he was around me again and tugged hard enough this time that the tie all but fell out so I reached up, yanked it out, and let my hair down.

“God damn it…!” I screamed in my charge, ducking low and trying to use my shoulder to knock him down but he spun me around again and I hit the ground. This was pretty much pointless now. I was too angry. I got up again but with no enthusiasm. My hands wrapped around my elbows as I quietly fumed and shook. He was grinning, certain that his little ‘lesson’ had gotten his point across.

But all he did was piss me off.

“Are you happy asshole!? Was this your whole fucking goal? Cuz now I’m pissed!” I spat at him, glaring. He stood his full height, not displaying any aggression, and sighed.

“You said it wasn’t a distraction.” I snorted and looked away. “You said it wasn’t a weakness. And yet here you are, unable to fight back.”

“Yeah well you have a glaring weakness too, remember? And I said I wouldn’t use it because it’s cheap! Just like what you’re doing now! It’s cheap and a bitch move!” There was that wide-eyed expression as I used that phrase. “I told you that was what it was and you did it anyway! You deserve every name you get called!” This wasn’t how I pictured this happening at all last week. It seemed so much funnier at the time, but now I was just too angry to care. He stood there, letting me lash out.

“Are you done yet?” I knew he was referring to my outburst, but I didn’t care and walked towards the house.

“Yeah, I’m fucking done,” I snarled as I made my way to the door. He didn’t respond or try to stop me, which only slightly surprised me, but as I made my way to the bedroom to shower and change a huge wave of guilty anger crashed on me and I felt hot tears start trailing down. “Fucking asshole. I hope the first fight he gets into puts him in the hospital when they smash his dick in,” I vented. The shower didn’t ease my anger either. I dressed in the coziest set of lounge clothes I owned, desperately fighting off the mix of emotions bubbling in me.

I took my time feeding the dogs and watching out the back windows. He was still in the backyard and looked like he resorted to meditating for the rest of the time. Half of me felt guilty for walking out in the middle of the lesson but the other half was screaming that he deserved it.

‘But he was trying to prove a point…’ I nearly slapped myself for even thinking it, but as I dwelled longer and stared at my cup brewing my drink the more I realized just how disrespectful my response had been. The things I screamed at him were replaying in my head too; even after he made it clear he did not tolerate that kind of language I flung it at him anyway.

There were the tears again.

“Damn it, I am such a bitch,” I wiped them off quickly, refusing to let them stay long enough to leave behind any evidence. I grit my teeth, trying to keep them from forming again. “I didn’t need to go off on him like that...”

I didn’t want to risk going to the back door so I let the dogs out the front instead and grabbed my drink.

An hour passed. Both dogs were inside happily bouncing and playing with their toys and I had my laptop pulled up in front of me. But I dreaded what I had pulled up on several tabs.

Short haircuts. And not just chin-length bob-cuts, I meant the short, spiky-haired styles that only looked good on celebrities. The thought kept crossing my mind that if he was going to make that an issue then I would have to compromise. I hated short hair but if it risked any of what we had going then I would have to give in. No matter how much I loathed the idea, I feared the idea of losing his company more. The lessons were great and he was a very enjoyable teacher, but he had become good company in between too. The conversations were entertaining, his calm demeanor was sticking around more and I didn’t want to lose any of that over something so petty. Hair grows back eventually.

So I continued on, scrolling through pages and pages of different cuts and styles, trying to favorite anything tolerable to show my hair dresser next time I scheduled with her.

The laptop suddenly closing shut scared me enough to shriek and nearly drop the thing but his pale hand kept it steady enough for me to recover. I pulled it up in my arms and looked up to see not an angry android but an unhappy one for sure. He shared the couch with me, gesturing me away from the laptop. I’d gotten used to his silent cues and set it on the floor and turned toward him, nearly shaking over whatever was about to be thrown at me. His eyes were hard, almost impossible to make contact with, but I tried anyway.

“Let’s get a few things straightened out before tomorrow.” I winced slightly but nodded. “If you ever use that kind of language with me again I will halt this entire thing. You won’t learn another thing from me until you can prove you have more discipline than that. If you feel the need to vent then put it behind your fists, not your tongue. Never again, understood?”

“Yeah. Never again.” It was all I could do to form those three words. My throat was tightening up and heat was building in my chest.

“Now, as for weaknesses…” he started. I didn’t know what to expect here so I just listened. “I understand that I have an obvious one, but know that if you ever use it I will never hold it against you. If I don’t guard against it and you are successful then that is my fault, not yours.” I didn’t want to agree to this one since I was so adamant about not ever hitting him, but I nodded anyway.

“K.”

“And, lastly, disregard those pictures you pulled up. I will never coerce you into anything. A female’s hair tends to be tied to their pride, and I can tell you’ve put plenty of effort into keeping it long and healthy. I was only demonstrating the risk it does carry; I have no intentions of making it into a permanent obstacle.” That did it; my throat was so tight I almost couldn’t breathe but I was so relieved to hear it I nearly teared up. Even though it proved I overreacted, it also made it clear that he was more reasonable than I had given him credit for. He was so willing to compromise that it didn’t feel like he was the same character I grew up watching on TV.

I could only offer a hushed whisper, “Thanks.”

The rumbling chuckle I got back was surprisingly reassuring. “Was this a genuine concern for you?” I cleared my throat as well as I could before trying to respond.

“I gave in. I was being so petty…I pushed my own pride aside. It would wait one more day but then it would have been cut. You made it clear it was an issue, and getting rid of it would have been the only responsible thing to do.” He quickly cut me off.

“No, there is nothing I am not willing to come to terms with. You don’t need to conform for me, there is always another solution. For this, I can merely refrain from using it, but it is imperative that you know what that kind of weakness feels like.”

I couldn’t help myself, “Oh no, this,” I grabbed and yanked a portion of my hair to prove my point, “really doesn’t compare to what you have. I might get angry and grumble but a direct hit on you could put you out cold…”

“Or, as you colorfully phrased it, ‘in the hospital’.” I stopped breathing for a second there. There was no way he heard that.

“…I was in the house when I said that...”

“Yes, in fact you were in your bedroom. That should put in perspective just how careful you should be when making snide comments you might regret later.”

“Oh my God…” I nearly had a panic attack thinking about it, ‘What all has he heard?!’

“Disregard that for now. What do you mean it doesn’t hurt? That was a violent reaction for it not being a painful experience.” How could I even begin to explain this one? I mean, yes, getting your hair _yanked _on is definitely not a fun experience by any means, but hardly anything to get that angry over. 

“Well as a kid with younger siblings that was a normal ‘fight’ since we weren’t allowed to punch each other…” I shrugged, “…so you build a tolerance early. But when you’re older…you just don’t use it to fight. It’s kinda…hard to explain.” Now the heat was really building up in my chest. If he kept asking questions I might just hand him the laptop and tell him to look it up on his own.

“If it’s not used to fight then it must serve some purpose. Did I send an unintended message?” How could I word this? I could give broad answers without much detail, but if he kept digging then I might have to call it quits before I got too flustered!

“Well the biggest reason is not to hurt… it’s to declare dominance, assert control…y’know, along those lines. It’s more of a display, not an actual means of hurting someone.” His eyes narrowed.

“That is NOT what I intended.” I finally cracked up.

“Oh, I know! I’m pretty sure I overreacted… If it were any normal guy then I would lay into them pretty quick, but you don’t know all of the social cues…” He went quiet and set his gaze away from me. I couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or just unsure of an appropriate response, but either way I was content with that much information. If I wanted to kick it up another notch I could clue him in on the sexual messages it could send too, but that was treading the flirting line a bit too much.

But if it meant getting him flustered…

So much for keeping it under control; just the thought of him having those awkward looks on his face had me snickering and, naturally, he had to point it out.

“What is so funny? Not long ago you were furious with the idea and now you’re laughing!?”

“Nope, just laughing at how clueless you are,” I laughed. “But if you do it again I’ll make sure it’s the last time you do.”

“Is that a threat?” That serious tone he used almost worried me. I shook my head and kept the light airy tone I was using.

“No, it’s a promise. There is a difference.” It was so hard to keep a straight face with that line, but I somehow managed.

“You are very confusing.” If I had any doubts about Goku’s cells being a part of him they were gone now. That blank awkward stare was priceless.

I shook my head, “Don’t worry about it.”

That time of the month made itself known that night when I went to bed. The only silver lining was at least my emotional meltdown was explained.

Tomorrow came and the session went quicker than normal. It was the same plan as yesterday but, unfortunately, my stamina just wasn’t up for the challenge. I had an idea for the next days: try to memorize his movements just enough to predict where he was going to be rather than trying to keep up with him. I doubted it would work so I already planned on next week being the same thing until he either got bored of me or an accident happened again.

When afternoon came around I was hungry enough for a lunch so I headed for the kitchen and started to dig out pots and pans. As soon as I turned around to start grabbing utensils I halted in my efforts.

Cell was standing in the entryway to the kitchen with a slightly shamed look. I didn’t even have to ask this time.

“Chicken stir-fry. Sound good?” A light nod was my only response.

I was always nervous whenever I handed him a new meal to try, but not once has he been upset with the flavor or disappointed with a portion size. I always had a smaller portion for myself and let him have the bigger option, just in case. I assured him too much was always better than too little, but he never asked for more. I quietly hoped he didn’t practically starve himself before he caved and asked for a meal.

Maybe it was just a comfort-zone thing. As time passed and he realized he wasn’t imposing as much as he thought he was then maybe meals would happen more than once a week. But I wasn’t going to worry. He never collapsed again and the shaking only came up a few more times.

Evening came and the ‘goodnight’ and ‘c ya in the mornin’ exchange was now habit. I pulled out my contacts, set my alarm for the days after tomorrow, and crawled under the covers with the pups snuggled on top.

My day off went by so fast it was like it never existed. I was up early thanks to the routine my body was adjusting to, went to town for groceries now that more food was going to be necessary, took care of some things at the bank, came home and finished with preparing for future meals.

I flopped down on the couch with my meal in hand halfway through the day with Cell comfortably settled in on his corner of the couch. It only took a few bites before I realized I was much hungrier than I thought I was. I made it halfway through and I was already thinking about some sort of dessert.

“Have you formed a plan for tomorrow?”

I stopped chewing for just a moment, “Hm?”

“It is clear you have struggled with the past two days so you must have some sort of plan for tomorrow?”

I swallowed and cleared my teeth, “Well, unless I have some sort of super speed that I suddenly discover tomorrow, no, I don’t have any real plans.” Technically that was a lie, but I certainly wasn’t going to give away any ideas I might be forming in case he planned to take that one little edge away from me. It would be safe to assume that he’d enjoy toying with me like that.

“Hmph, well then I may have to change things up a bit. You’re not improving at the rate I had hoped you would…” he looked away.

My heart sank at those words.

“What do you mean by that?” I set my bowl aside and held my breath. What was I missing? Should I tell him I had a plan? Would he be offended if I admitted lying to him?

His gaze focused on me once more.

“I’ll ask one last time; do you have a plan for tomorrow?” I swallowed hard. ‘Time to fess up.’

“Kinda, but I didn’t want to say what! I didn’t want you to know, since, you might not let it happen…”

“And what would I gain from that? The point of teaching you is to help you develop ideas and bring out your strengths, not prevent you from advancing. You need to trust me when I ask what you are planning so I can help you obtain it, not defeat you and prevent progress.” I grimaced and pouted a bit.

“I was hoping to do this on my own…” He scoffed at my response.

“Push that pride aside. You’re not a trained fighter and we’ve barely been doing this for a few weeks. If there was anyone to blame for your lack of progress it is me, not you. Now, what are you planning for tomorrow?” I fidgeted a bit, but at least he made his goals clear so the least I could do was admit to mine.

“I don’t think I can get any faster, so I was going to try to start predicting where you would be and plan a few steps ahead of you. At some point I’d have to surprise you and then I’d get a hit in.” Now that I said it aloud it didn’t sound very realistic at all. In fact it actually sounded pretty dumb.

“Let me take that concept and refine it into a fighter’s perspective: you are going to start acting instead of reacting.”

“Oh?” Lecture mode again?

“Why is it that chess is a difficult game? Is the concept difficult? Is one piece stronger than the other? It’s all about strategy and having your moves planned out before you even start the game. Fighting has similar concepts. If you fall for every trap your opponent leads you into it doesn’t matter how fast or strong you are. The fighter that can plan out the furthest successfully typically has the advantage on the battlefield.”

“But that’s tough, because predicting exactly what strategy your opponent will fall for is hard to do…”

He grinned, “Hence the emphasis on ‘successfully’.”

I went to bed with a clear head and a boost to my confidence. But sleep ended up being tough. Cramps always kicked in this time of the month too, only for a couple of days, but it was still enough to make me struggle to sleep. I was awake before my alarm again and knocked down some pills to help with the pain.

Those two days sucked. I ended up apologizing for my lackluster performance and when he prodded for information I just told him that it was a girl issue and I wasn’t going to be at 100% for a couple of days. He dropped the subject right away and cut the days shorter.

I made up for it the following week.

“Excellent, keep up this pace!” I couldn’t believe how much more I improved from the suggestions he made. Even though he planned out how the lessons went he never told me what I was ‘supposed’ to do. It was as if he predicted my own movements and set himself up so that I could predict his. If that was the case then he much smarter than I could ever give him credit for.

My feet practically moved of their own accord; he tracked left and I matched him step for step, eliminating majority of the running I normally did. I went for a quick, short jab in an attempt to make contact, but once again he made sure I narrowly missed.

That was how the entire session ended up going. But I couldn’t be upset; this was by far the most improvement since we made this arrangement.

Later that afternoon I cooked a particular dish I wanted Cell to try. I sat down on the couch with two plates and offered one up to him. He frowned at the offer.

“I did not ask for anything.”

“That’s okay, I just want you to try it. It’s a recipe I’m pretty happy with.” He looked at me, then back down to the plate.

“Something you’re ‘happy with’?” I nodded.

“Yeah, this recipe is one from the friends I’ve mentioned, Karen. She’s a fantastic cook and showed me tons of shortcuts in the kitchen. This recipe is one of my favorites. Just try it.” I motioned the plate towards him one more time and, with slight reluctance, he took it from me. I felt my heart race for a moment; letting him approach me when he needed anything was fine and let him have his space, but I wanted to play the host role a bit more. Hoping I wasn’t being too pushy I started to dig into my plate and quietly listened.

Tense seconds ticked by in my head. I tried to focus on my dinner but the anticipation was killing me. Gathering up all of my courage, I managed to squeeze out one word.

“So?” My heart was pounding in my ears. Pressuring him for anything was mentally exhausting for me even after having him around for a solid month. And, sadly, it has been getting easier. He looked up from the plate.

“As I have told you with every meal, very flavorful. This is much appreciated.” I smiled back, glad that he didn’t scold me for offering him food on an off-day. Taking another bite I started to gather my wits for the next gamble I was about to take. I had been trying to do this for about a week now, but he so rarely asked for meals I wasn’t able to make any attempts. But now was my chance.

“Can I offer a drink to accompany it?” My pulse was flying. I was terrified, but not because of the answer I might get, but for the explanation he would most certainly want after.

“I have no need for water.”

Here we go. “Not water. Wine.”

His brows rose quickly. “Wine?” His voice nearly cracked and I had to hold back my giggle; I didn’t think his voice could get any higher than that low, sultry tone he normally used.

“Yeah, it’s a good red, but I don’t care to open a bottle just for myself. Join me in a drink?”

He chuckled with a mischievous grin, “Do you wish to see me intoxicated for some reason?”

I cracked up, “Oh, don’t worry; I’ll be three sheets to the wind before you will be. I just wanted to share it with you.” 

“Don’t humans typically drink alcohol for obscure reasons? Manipulating their minds to dull their senses?”

I shrugged back, “Some do. I’ve only drank enough for the fuzzy feeling, not to get plastered. And if you think I talk too much now…” I started laughing until his eyes shined back at me.

“I accept.”

He surprised me with such a quick answer that I didn’t respond at first. “Uh, oh, okay,” I stuttered as I set my plate down. I came back with a pair of glasses and a chilled bottle. Taking the glass from me he looked it over and breathed in the aroma. I swirled my own glass under my nose, closed my eyes and tilted it back.

Beer and mixed liquors are pure junk compared to wine. My mouth exploded with flavors, sensations and a total clearing of my sinuses. The experience is always that much more invigorating when one doesn’t drink often. Setting it aside I went back to eating dinner.

I didn’t even get a chance to stop him; he tilted the glass back and took a huge gulp.

Cue the inevitable coughing and gasping for air. 

“Yeah, you kinda need to _sip _wine…” I grinned and took another sip. He recovered after a shudder.

“Yes, well,” he coughed again, “it does have a slightly overwhelming flavor and sensation. Compared to the food, anyway.”

“Break up the flavor a bit. Have another bite and then sip. Don’t treat it like a shot,” I laughed. He picked the glass up again and did as I recommended. “Won’t lie; it was pretty entertaining to watch you try to down it.” He shot me his ‘whatever’ look he makes whenever I tease him now.

“I have been sensing you intentionally set me up with new situations just to see how I react to them.” He set his glass down and went back for the plate. I had to bite down on my lip; I was slightly guilty of it, but I also wouldn’t do anything that could upset him.

“I might enjoy some of it…but wouldn’t you rather try things on your own anyway?” 

He paused and looked down at the glass he had in his hand again, “Well, it wasn’t traumatizing. But if I decide to ask for suggestions in the future can I trust that you would provide them?”

“Of course I would! It’s not like I’m trying to set you up for failure. But there are things I’m gonna suggest you just try…most of life is experiencing it, not being told how.” He eyed me warily.

“Then I’ll be sure to ask about everything you hand me and if anything ends in disaster I’ll be sure to get you back in the following training session.” The cheekiest grin lit up his face and I busted out laughing. He was getting better with the witty comebacks and rolling with some of my sense of humor. Sadly some of his phrases weren’t ones I was used to so there were times he got a blank stare back from me, but I tried to roll with them anyway.

“And that’s my style,” I grabbed the bottle and gestured with it, “don’t get angry, get even.” I poured myself another half and just as I went to put it down he offered up his glass. I filled it and we clinked them in agreement.

After an hour our plates were empty and so was over half of the bottle. The topics we typically discussed were not the focus tonight.

“So the damn horse took off, left me lying in the open field and headed for home. I stood there, watching for karma to come around as soon as his hooves hit the pavement. And boy did it! His legs went out from under him and he rolled across the road and landed in the ditch on the other side. I should have been worried about him getting hurt but at that moment I didn’t care. I was too happy watching him hit the ground.” I was in a fit of giggles and I got a small chuckle back from him.

“Is this where your ‘karma’ idealism stems from?” I looked down at my glass, frowned and filled it halfway again.

“Eh, I might have had an idea, but it mostly developed over time. But I have always believed that a negative attitude and having a bad history will eventually catch up with ya…”

“Is that a hint?”

I didn’t even think of what I was saying until I saw that look on his face. It wasn’t anger, offense or even guilt. It was plain acknowledgement.

“No, no, that’s not where I was going…god damn…” I mumbled and stumbled over my words, “That’s not what I meant. I know it sounds like it but it’s not. You and your world, I can’t put them to the same standards as mine…your world is a terrifying place whether you’re a good person or not.”

He halted my rant, “Do not concern yourself, I know what I’ve done and have no regrets. But I do disagree with your unfounded fears of our world. You would do very well, especially under my tutelage.”

“Really? The technology and science seems to be way beyond ours… And with the powers that exist there too, I wouldn’t want to cross paths with many of them…”

“But here you sit, directly across from one of them,” he teased. I took another swig of my wine, not as self-conscious of how I looked anymore.

“In _this _world, yeah,” I started gesturing with my hands in my hazed state, “in yours, oh hell no. Not with your power at your fingertips. And if you had that power here when you showed up, damn what a mess this’a been…”

“Are you certain of that?” he cut me off.

“Of what? That this would have been a disaster? Absolutely.”

“Based on what? How do you believe it would have played out if I was here with my abilities in full? Since you seem so confident in your ability to predict and see the future,” he added coyly.

I held nothing back. “Oh, this would be so bad it could actually be hysterical. It would be so easy for our world to panic that the first person that saw you flying through the air would call the police. Then if they ever caught up with you they wouldn’t know what you were so they’d shoot first. You’d retaliate and people’s phone footage would be all over the internet by then, so the amount of people panicking would explode exponentially…” I surprised myself at how I didn’t stumble over that word despite the wine, “then the people who recognized you would be putting _that _information up, so more panic compounds on more panic…” I took a breath after the spiel.

There was that toothy grin again, “I think I can see where this is heading. Are you predicting an all-out war between me and your world’s armies?”

“Well, mostly with us, not so much on the other countries. We would have the world pretty much destroyed by the time they even thought about getting involved. And if they ever got that far they would NOT be crossing those oceans seein’ you tossin’ tanks in the air like pebbles.”

“You believe I am so reckless with my power? After I destroyed everything that even attempted to kill me there would be no true destruction to your lands, aside from the wreckage from your machines. Your military would have to eventually give up.” I shook my head.

“You’re thinking too small. Once they found out getting within a 10-mile radius of you was suicide they’d drop bombs. And not small ones either.”

“They’d find out very quickly that they would do nothing to me.”

“And that’s where shit would go so wrong. You see, we’re a stupid fucking country,” I had to set my glass down, “As soon as they saw you walk away without a scratch they’d say ‘we’re gonna need a bigger bomb’, and those bombs are the ones that ruin our homes for the next thousand years. Those are the ‘game over’ bombs. And there are lots of countries that have those.” My head pounded and my hands were nearly sweaty. Good thing the alcohol was keeping the nervous butterflies I normally got at bay. I dragged my hands over my face, “Uh, just thinking about it makes me want to scream…” He seemed oddly quiet for the moment.

Then he broke it, “Where would you be in all of this? Watching this on the internet, seeing all of this unfold, what would you be doing?” I rolled my head around as I picked my glass up and took another swig.

“I’d be the Relena Peacecraft, probably screaming at the screen with ‘why didn’t they talk first’ and angry that nobody would understand why provoking you into a war would be the worst thing on the planet and that even attempting to bargain with you would have been smarter…”

“The what? The Relena…?” I dismissed his question with a wave.

“Bad anime reference, ignore it. Just that talking peace accomplishes more than destroying everything that breathes. And a higher chance that more people might survive it.”

“But you did talk to me first. You did recognize me and you didn’t attempt to kill me even though that was probably one of your first ideas…”

I shook my head, “I didn’t even dwell on it. Attempting to kill you would have been stupid. I knew there was no point to try to restrain you either…that would have been a total waste of time.”

“So you rationalized waking me and talking to me. Do you not believe the situation would have been the same with or without my powers?”

“I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have turned out like this...” I felt my tone drop with the ideas flipping through my head. I would gamble that if he woke and was able to fly he would have been airborne and either been gone before I got to ask any questions or become the first obstacle he eliminated. Both scenarios were equally frightening.

The awkward silence that filled the room was unnerving.

I downed my drink and set the glass aside. The bottle was empty; mostly thanks to me but Cell certainly had more than a couple of drinks. He wasn’t acting like the alcohol affected him, but I may have been too loopy to notice a difference.

“Would you be interested in a bargain?”

I was suspicious but curious too, “What kind of bargain?”

“I have the answer for your scenario, but only if you answer my question.” I raised a brow.

“_That _question?” He nodded.

“_That _question.” I didn’t skip a beat.

“No deal.” He sighed, loudly. “I gave you the answer several times already; I did it because I wanted to. I wasn’t going to leave you lying in the backyard. Besides…” I hesitated a bit before admitting this, “I wouldn’t change any of this.” He stayed quiet. “Oh, don’t be such a sourpuss. I can’t figure out why my help still bothers you, can’t you be over it by now?”

It dawned on me how much the alcohol was letting me speak my mind so openly. It was too late to undo what I had just said, so I waited for either his snarky response or angry outburst.

“It is not your help that bothers me; it is your rationale that I need to understand. Your logic and reasoning for your actions are more the bother than the acts themselves.”

That response was a relief but it still provoked an irritable retort, “Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’? If you think there is some sort of hidden message it is all in your head.” He put his hands up in a fashion that literally looked like he was surrendering.

“Alright, forget that question. May I try another? This has been an entertaining day and I’d like it to continue.”

“As long as you don’t bother with that question,” I snorted. He nodded.

“Fair enough. Perhaps on a day with more than one bottle of wine,” I couldn’t help but grin, “but let’s take the other idea you brought up. Let’s say the roles were switched, you were dropped into my world instead. Do you think we would have crossed paths?”

That exact scenario had crossed my mind several times long before this conversation started. The thought of being in that world was almost overwhelming now seeing as it could have happened as easily as he was dropped into my own. But the circumstances would probably dictate my answers, so I started poking around.

“Well, depends on what was happening. I’d need more details than just being dropped in the middle of the woods.”

He gestured in agreement, “Alright, I’ll give you more specifics then. Let’s say the games haven’t started yet, but people are still fleeing the cities and information is easy to find, so you figured out where you were fairly quickly. Now what do you think would have happened?”

I toyed with the idea, “Hm, so I’d know where I was. That would take a toll on my mind for a day or two…but I guess if the cities are empty I would have some sort of shelter, food might be tough though. Should I assume I’d be somewhere not far from the arena?”

“Assume you are within traveling distance. A day’s walk perhaps. If you were dropped in the capitol the arena would be due north.” He was setting this up easily for me; almost too easily.

“Well then I’d be gathering food and supplies and start walkin’. Depending on how long I ended up staying I guess I’d have to give in and ask for help from the locals. A job or whatnot. I’d be asking the same questions you were; why, how and if I could get back home…” I suddenly shot a look at the dogs lying in the front room, “Oh geez, it’s a good thing the roles weren’t switched! These guys would be in trouble…” They came up to the couch with tails waggling and tongues hanging out. “No one would notice I was gone for…a week, maybe…they’d be starving by the time someone came out to check on me…”

“Please do not dwell on that. The situation would have probably been similar to my own; the display was vivid and in front of a crowd. Goku and his friends know I am not in their world anymore. But they likely don’t know where I am, so I’m sure they’ve been on high alert for the past several weeks. More than likely Goku has been training to see if he can close the gap between our powers before I return,” he mused, looking almost glad that he was forced out of the fight and had accidently given them more time to prepare.

I gave in, “Alright, I’ll pretend someone watched me disappear into thin air and is watching over the mongrels for me…what was the question, again?”

“You know where you are, when the tournament will start and that you aren’t far from it. Would you have made an appearance?” Well, if he was going to be blunt about it then I guess I could give an honest answer.

“Yup. Front row seats to the Cell Games, you bet I’d be there. The fight between you and Goku would be amazing to see in person.” His eyes were usually a good indicator of his mood and today they were a fantastic demonstration of his excitement.

“Interesting. Your curiosity would cloud over your fear of our powers?”

With a knowing grin I nodded, “I know how the fight goes too, so I’m not worried. But if things went wrong I know the dragon balls get used after they win too. Hopefully being from another world wouldn’t disqualify me for revival…” I laughed. “But I wouldn’t want to cross paths with you outside of that. While Goku had your attention in the ring I could enjoy the view.”

“The view?” he laughed, “What kind of view are you expecting? We move at speeds even the most skilled humans cannot follow with their eyes.”

“That’s alright, I’ll take what I can get. Remember, I would be the first from this world to see yours. That alone would be a big enough deal to me, but seeing the two of you on that tiled arena would be icing on the cake. I wouldn’t need to see the details, just to know the two of you existed at that moment.”

“And you would have sat quietly on the sidelines, even before the fight?”

I definitely made an odd face, “Well yeah, I would not have asked questions when I already knew what was going to happen. If anything it would be tough not to tell them what was going to happen…”

“I am not concerned with Goku and his friends; I am curious of what you would have said to me. I am certain you would not have engaged me but I certainly would have engaged you well before the tournament.”

“And you would have written me off as a whack job with my cryptic _‘I know how the future goes’_ message. I wouldn’t have told you hardly anything, especially with no way to prove it,” I shrugged. He said nothing back but I could tell in the way he shifted on the couch that he wasn’t content with the answer. Whether he wanted more or different answers I couldn’t tell, but he didn’t push for either.

The lightbulb of the century went off in my head and I almost couldn’t contain my excitement.

“Oh my God! I know EXACTLY what I would have said at the tournament! Oh geez I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner!” He eyed me suspiciously. “Oh, come on! You should know EXACTLY what I would be screaming there!”

“I fear I am at a loss here, my dear. Could you explain your lapse in sanity?” The giggles were way ahead of me and I had to gather myself before trying to speak.

“Okay, okay. I would have begged Goku to hold back his fight one more round. I would have demanded a rematch for you and Mr. Satan!”

He face-palmed immediately and I heard a groaning mumble, “Heaven forbid…” What a glorious sight to behold. I couldn’t stop my jeering laughs now.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see that one coming!”

“Of all things you could consider…yes, I suppose that _was _on your list of priorities.”

I had gotten completely sidetracked from his question but I was not about to give this up. I was having way too much fun watching his awkward responses. “You would have killed him. I would have _made _you do it!”

“_Made _me? You said you wouldn’t have even spoken to me if you could help it and yet you would convince me of this particular favor?”

A wicked grin started to form, “I would want this _so bad _that I would have been begging you. Whatever you asked of me in return it would be done, no questions asked.”

“Asked anything of you? Is that so?”

“_I’da told you to name your price._” I wasn’t trying to make it sound dirty but it was definitely coming out that way_. Too much alcohol for this kind of conversation._

“Hm, I wonder what limits there would be on such requests…” he raised a brow and I got a butterfly fluttering in my gut. It was time to back out of the innuendos before it got too obvious.

“So it’s a good thing you got dropped here instead! You don’t have to go through the trouble of killing him and no awkward requests of me! It’s perfect!”

He tsked, “Such a shame, missing out on an interesting situation.” I shook my head and leaned back into the couch, thankful that he didn’t push the subject further.

“I’ve been thinking that situation out quite a bit lately, since you’ve been here and all… I’d really like to know how you got here if there’s a way it could flip like that and rip people between other worlds too.”

“Like other worlds that your writers have created?” I nodded.

“I’d feel for anyone that got dropped into the Attack on Titan series, that’s pretty much certain death. 90% of the characters die, I don’t even want to see what would happen to someone from this world that had no clue. With your world death isn’t even absolute as long as the dragons still exist and someone cares enough about you to bring you back.” The images of Freiza being brought back to life flipped through my head and I nearly pouted over not being able to bring it up. Cell made it clear he wanted to hear nothing of the future of the timeline because he was certain he was going to live and that would change everything. He snarled at me when he had to repeat himself once and I didn’t want it to happen again, so I left out everything about the Majin Saga and beyond.

“May I ask one more question? I will hold my end of the bargain if you answer one more for me.” I remembered him saying he had an answer but he didn’t make clear what it was.

“I can, but what was it you were going to explain? What answer did you have?”

“What would have happened if I had my powers here when you woke me.” My eyes widened a bit.

“Really? An honest answer?” I didn’t care if I seemed eager now; I always wanted that answer but never had the guts to ask him.

“Of course an honest one, but here’s my last question. Imagine if tomorrow we were suddenly pulled from this world and we both got put in my own. Would you have any interest in studying ki and extending your knowledge in combat?”

Well that was a surprise. Of all the things I thought he’d ask this wasn’t even on the list of ideas.

“Well of course! Granted as long as Goku and his comrades didn’t think I was training to fight them or something weird like that, then yeah, I’d be ecstatic!” His face literally lit up at the answer.

“Excellent! Then when I figure out how to get back to that world this may very well continue. And don’t concern yourself with Goku, I’m already certain that I could offer a cease-fire and he wouldn’t refuse it. We could continue with your training for however long we liked.” For a minute I felt stone-cold sober.

For however long ‘we’ liked.

“You mean to say you’ve been enjoying this too? That I haven’t been a pain this whole time?” I teased with a smirk. He gave one right back.

“As you said, I wouldn’t change any of this either.” My heart fluttered and I was drunk all over again. That warm, fuzzy feeling was radiating everywhere and I swear if we had one bottle more I may have tried to seduce him tonight.

Good thing I wasn’t _that _drunk.

“What would you try to teach me then? Beyond what we’ve been doing here, how much farther do you think I could go?”

“Let me ask you this instead; would you like to learn? Of all the abilities and techniques you have seen us use, which one appeals to you the most?” I smiled; I have had the answer to this question for years.

“To fly. Unaided, free of technology, as far as I could go with only my own stamina as my limit. I could train forever learning to do that.” He nodded in acknowledgement.

“Then I will keep that a priority in your progression.” I giggled a bit at the absurdity of it all. “What is that about?”

“Oh, how only a month ago I nearly feared for my life and here you are now, hoping to teach me to fly. Am I even capable of learning something like that?”

“You are capable of even more than _that_. But it will be much easier once I have my power. Once you understand how ki moves, feels and fluctuates the sooner you will learn to harness it. But we are far from that point right now. Meantime we will just focus on you landing one hit on me.”

“Well then I am totally screwed for the next thousand years.”

“How so?”

“I can’t get to your level even if I wanted to. I’ll never actually hit you; you’ve proven that plenty of times.” He shook his head.

“Nonsense. You will hit me when you are moving correctly and not a moment sooner. You just learned to start acting on your own instead of reacting to my movements. You are progressing, slow as it may seem…” My head fell forward and I sighed loudly.

“Yes master, thank you for being patient…lord knows I need it…” He chuckled. I looked out the window and realized the sun was pretty much gone. “Holy cow,” I reached for my phone, almost 10:00 pm. “Your turn now, buddy. Any more questions for me and we might see tomorrow.”

“Fair enough. I’m satisfied with those answers. Tell me your prediction about our encounter if I had my abilities.”

“Hey!” I wailed playfully, “Your turn! I gave you all my answers!”

“Ah, yes, about the war that would occur. But you didn’t tell me what would have occurred between us. Can you tell me that much, at least? Then I promise you my answer.” I pouted slightly, but I honestly didn’t want the night to end. One more answer couldn’t hurt too much.

“I don’t think you would’ve stayed grounded for long. As soon as you were awake I’m pretty sure you would have just left. No questions, no bargaining, just gone before I asked if you were even real… Course I would have gotten that answer as soon as you took off…” I didn’t mention possibly being killed seeing as it seemed incredibly unlikely now since he knew I didn’t attempt to harm him when he was still unconscious.

“Anything else?”

“And then the war that would happen over the next 24 hours,” I laughed, but he didn’t laugh with me.

“You may want to clear your head of those thoughts then as I am about to surprise you. None of that would have occurred.” He was dead serious.

A confused stare was all I could give back at first. “Then…what would have happened?”

“If I have any weakness I could admit to it would be the desire to satisfy my own curiosity. There is a reason I was difficult in our first meetings, pathetic of an excuse as it is… My power is my own sense of security. I know what I can do with it and that I have nothing to fear as long as I have it. The moment I realized I didn’t have it I panicked and tried to gauge what your motives were. I couldn’t sense if you had any power or what your life force felt like so trying to predict what you were going to do was nothing but speculation. I wasn’t much for conversation simply because I never needed to when it came to humans. When my power didn’t return I realized I was going to have to ask questions to obtain information.”

This was interesting information I was getting, but it still hadn’t answered how it would have changed with his powers. “Wouldn’t you need to ask questions anyway? There’s no way you could just ‘sense’ what our world was compared to yours.”

“I would have needed some answers eventually, but my initial concerns would not have surfaced the way they did in our initial meetings. You would not have been a mystery to me the way you were then.”

“I doubt that, unless you can read minds.” He laughed.

“It is not as thorough as it sounds, but I am able to read majority of your body with my powers. I can sense something as subtle as an electric impulse in the brain and temperature fluctuations from your hormones. I can read them in the same manner you can read words from a book and put together the information. Without my powers I am as blind as you would be with a book in a dark room. And so it made for an unsettling first impression.”

For a few moments I could only marvel at how incredible that was. “Hopefully I am not much of a mystery to you now…”

“Majority of my concerns have been dismissed, save for the one constant question I keep bothering you with…”

“And as soon as you figure out whatever mystery you think that is make sure you tell the rest of the male population. They’ve spent the millennia trying to understand women logic too,” I jeered and he shook his head in dismay.

“That topic aside, with my powers none of this would have been a concern so I would have gone straight into asking questions about your world. I would not have flown off or killed you simply because I would have known right away what I’ve learned about you over the past several weeks.”

“So you would have stayed around? Not gone off and caused chaos and mayhem wherever you went?”

“Not at all. Do you recall our little bargain, where you offered information in exchange for the safety of you and your planet? There was no need the entire time. If I decide to cause a disturbance there must be a purpose for it to serve. There are no worthy challengers in this world so making a scene to draw them out is pointless. And I would have known that you were willing to share information from even the slightest bit of intimidation so I would not have needed to threaten you or your family. The only differences there would have been are that I would still have my armor, no need to rest or eat for the sake of my energy, and you wouldn’t have seen any displays of weakness. Which, if I hadn’t been so blindly stubborn, could have been prevented had I just been more cautious about my body’s status.”

I was a bit overwhelmed with the information so I took it all in, processing what that could have meant for me too. “But if I wasn’t there for the times you needed help I wouldn’t be as casual with you as I am now, so that would’ve changed…and would you still be my teacher? Or would you have considered it to be below you?”

“I am not sure where you get this notion that having a student somehow lowers my standards. I consider all beings below me, Sayajin, Human, Namekian, doesn’t matter, they learn all the same from my perspective. Also, I recall you saying that learning under me would be an honor. Has this changed?”

“Oh, no! Not at all!” I piped up, remembering how that first day he offered felt, “I still occasionally pinch myself to make sure it’s still real and not just a big fantasy I dreamed up!”

“Then why would I change that? And I would have sensed the same excited energy from you if I had my powers, so this would have still happened, it just might have taken a bit longer seeing as you would have been much more hesitant around me.”

“Hesitant is such an understatement…” I don’t think he could grasp just how absolutely terrified I would have been to have him on the property with his full power. It would have felt like walking in a minefield and trying to live like death was going to be inevitable.

“I feel as if I should share this much with you: if I didn’t tolerate your existence you would be dead already. I am more than capable of killing you and everyone within a hundred mile radius with minimal effort even in this condition. If you fear my power that much then you should fear me now; you would be dead either way.”

I barely reacted to that, which was very unsettling for me. He made that statement as casually as we had conversation over dinner. My pulse didn’t even react to it as I merely accepted the statement for what I interpreted it as: If I wasn’t dead already then I wasn’t going to be.

“Then I’ll still look forward to seeing your power when it comes back. And try my best not to scream,” I picked my phone up again. It was well after 10 now.

“Goodnight, then?” I looked up to him and nodded.

“Yup. C ya in the mornin’.” I stood up and gathered the bottle and glasses.

“Pleasant dreams, as well.”

“After all this, I’m sure it will be nothing but good dreams,” I smiled and headed for bed.

Any and all feedback is appreciated!


	12. Hot Yoga

Chapter 12

Hot Yoga

Turned the Keurig on, grabbed my mug from the cupboard, picked out a flavor to brew, and waited. This had become so routine now it felt almost like being on autopilot and watching through a screen rather than being conscious of my choices.

I glanced out the windows to the backyard. Cell was nowhere to be found. I thought nothing of it. A sudden, odd presence coaxed me to glance over my shoulder.

He stood in the entryway, fully clad in black and green armor. _His powers were back_.

I felt myself gasp, caught somewhere between shock and panic. I didn’t scream but my pulse was loud enough to seem like I did. My legs moved out of instinct until my back hit the wall. My body was wrapped in pressure and I felt suspended in midair, but he never touched me. All I saw was a flick of his wrist. He stepped forward, the floor creaking under the weight of his power. My breaths were shaky and erratic; I couldn’t find my voice at all. He had me eye-level with him, our noses nearly touching he was so close.

“I know _everything _now,” he purred, dragging his fingertips up the length of my bare arm. “It was so easy to see through you…into your mind...” His words made my body shake, my breaths nearly hyperventilating, but I was frozen solid. No matter what my brain screamed I couldn’t move. “What a shame, keeping such interesting information from me…” he breathed, leaning in closer.

My mind was screaming, trying to get my frozen body to respond…

I jolted awake in the bed and opened my eyes to absolute darkness. My hands clutched the blanket and felt my body covered in a layer of sweat. Taking a few deep breaths I settled down, pushed the blanket off and felt the cool air reach my feet. My mind couldn’t shake the fear that I might have said something in my sleep and, considering how good Cell’s hearing was, that fear was certainly justified. My pulse started to settle down after a few minutes.

I kept getting flashes of the dream every time I closed my eyes. It was definitely not a nightmare; I was never truly scared for my life at any point. In fact it was hard to ignore just how damn sexy he looked as he closed in on me, taking control like that and using that seductive voice of his…

‘Stop that you moron’

It was a good thing this was an off day; I would have been terribly distracted.

It was way too easy to slip into such vivid fantasies now, especially after how much we’ve conversed and grown accustomed to the sound of his voice. His speech patterns were so distinct I could nearly predict how he would answer questions too. And there was still the fact that he was still technically half naked at any given moment. Every morning he was in motion with that sculpted body too; it could be a sin to watch him. And after watching him lift a car over his head I now knew he was only showing a fraction of the power of his natural body. Oddly enough though he was not built like a bodybuilder at all; he was much leaner than the artwork alluded to. I only vaguely remembered his armor anymore, but it didn’t seem bulky either…

At this rate I knew I was not going to fall back asleep and I rolled around in frustration. I pulled my legs up to my chest and stretched. Balla scooted closer and licked my arm, but Lati groaned and stretched out on her half of the bed. They never got fed early on lesson days so they learned to not get excited when I woke early. I rearranged the pillows and blankets, snuggled under the perfect layer to keep warm, and tried not to think about the weapon only meters down the hall.

I woke again several hours later with the light peeking through the curtains to my room. After kicking the blanket off I stretched my arms over my head. _Much better._ Today was going to be an awesome yoga day. The switch between training and yoga had me searching for more advanced poses on YouTube and I had a video I couldn’t wait to try today.

The dogs skidded down the tile floor of the kitchen as I pressed the button on the brewer, reaching up to the cupboard for a mug…

I peered through the window, hoping to see him in the backyard. Nothing. The machine beeped and I brewed my tea, enjoying the smell of the steam rising from the cup. When the machine was done I shut it off, picked up my mug, turned to head for the main room to enjoy it…

“Morning.”

I genuinely yelped and nearly dropped my hot tea but miraculously recovered.

His eyes went a bit wide, “Skittish today?”

With a nervous laugh I gestured with one hand, “Kinda, sorry…not your fault,” and his look shifted from shock to confusion.

“You woke quite suddenly about four hours ago…are the incidents related?” Well shit. Obviously I wasn’t going to tell him what the dream was about, but I could vaguely tie the two together.

“Yeah, an odd dream rattled me awake, but nothing too horrible. It was the déjà vu moment that got me.” He shot me a curious look.

“So…I was in your dreams?”

Oh god damn it.

“It’s not what it sounds like. Don’t get too excited,” I deadpanned, trying to keep it as convincing as possible. He shrugged with a scoff, so that might have been a win for me. “So, what’s got you up and about?”

“I have a request of you today, but first I would like a tour. The room you practice yoga in, the basement, I would like to see it.”

While an odd request, I didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yeah, sure. Right now? Or later?”

“Now would be more ideal.” Without a second thought I turned back down the hall, opened the door and led him down the stairwell. I turned as I got to the last few steps to warn him of the lower ceiling.

“Watch your head here, I’ve had people nearly knock themselves out on this beam.” His feet reached the tile flooring with a tapping sound and he glanced over the system in front of him. There was a small sofa and two recliners arranged before a flat screen TV with an oversized rug in between. The oak entertainment center that housed the TV had two matching audio piers on either side filled with either décor or electronics. He stood before it, looking it over.

“Explain how this works to me. I am unfamiliar with the technology.” I took a sip of my tea before setting it down on the end table next to the sofa. I understood that he was curious but his request could have sounded demanding to anyone else. After opening the cabinet doors I explained the system that was connected to the TV; the speakers, the PS4 (after explaining what a gaming console was), and the receiver that handled the different channels that could be used. I grabbed the controller and fired everything up so he could see it all power on.

After studying the electronics he looked around the room once more. “Do you follow an instructor for your practice?” I fiddled with the controller once more.

“Kinda. Here, I’ll show ya what I’m planning for today.” I pulled up YouTube and went through the playlist of videos. “Since these are all pre-recorded she’s technically not an ‘instructor’, more like a motivator, but I enjoy the videos anyway.” I scrolled over to a specific one, “This is the next step up I’m gonna do today. The poses are a bit more advanced and she moves quickly through them, so it’ll be a tougher one.”

“I would like to attend your practice today, if you will allow it.”

I hesitated for a moment, “Define ‘attend’, cuz if you’re just gonna sit here and stare… that might be a hard no.”

His eyes lit up, “After the countless times you’ve watched me you don’t find it fair to be repaid in kind?” I tried to scowl but a grin mixed in, so I looked away.

“I guess it’s fair…” I grumbled sarcastically. I wasn’t going to tell him no, but I was nervous just thinking about it. After a moment I looked back, “Let me enjoy my tea first?” He nodded and I went back upstairs to get ready and have a quiet panic attack.

After the creatures were fed I changed clothes and went back to the basement where he was waiting. I pulled out my mat and clicked on the video, pausing it just as it came up so it could load for a minute. I sat down cross legged on the mat and turned to see Cell standing off to the side a few feet away. “So, what’s the plan? I don’t have a spare mat, so you’re on your own there…”

“No, I will not partake. I intend to intervene if I see anything that needs to be corrected.”

“Oh, well, you’ll be pretty bored for the first 10 minutes,” I laughed, “It’s mostly breathwork…then it’ll get to the motions.”

“That’s fine. Whenever you’re ready.” The instructions were clear enough to me, so I resumed the video and the introduction started. I was a few minutes into the rhythm and had closed my eyes when his voice cut through the video.

“Pause this for a moment.” I snapped out of my trance and hit the controller. He came up behind me and knelt and I felt his hands on each of my shoulders. “Continue from where you were but without the video. She doesn’t spend enough time on the posture and talks far too much.” Closing my eyes again I took a deep breath and rest my hands at my knees, but as I let the breath out he pulled my shoulders back more. “Draw your shoulders back and tighten that core. Your posture is lazy.” He didn’t pull too hard, but he tested the resistance in my shoulders. “The right shoulder is decent, but there is something off with your left. Do you know why?”

“Yeah, bad posture as a computer desk when I was in high school. I’ve known about it but it’s rarely a problem…”

“Have you encountered any pain?”

“Only if I have to lift anything over my head. It feels like a pin being pushed into it…” He pressed his thumb into that shoulder, pushing into every tendon and muscle that could be moved until I felt something that was like a hard knot in my back. I grit my teeth and my reflex was to move away from the pressure, but he held on tight.

“There it is. We will work on that. Any other injuries you’d like to share before we move on?” I almost didn’t want to talk about old injuries, but I had a feeling he was going to find them eventually.

“Um, maybe? I don’t know what’s a serious problem…” From there I mentioned some pains I had dealt with and which ones I didn’t know how to correct. He listened to my rambling and terrible descriptions of each one and told me not to worry about them for now. I took the advice and we continued with the rest of the video.

“You need to straighten your hips, and your arms need to be higher…” At this point I was struggling to keep up, but not because of the pace of the video.

I paused it once more, “Like this?” He shook his head and circled around me once more.

“Now your knee is incorrect, what a mess…” I was nervous in the beginning when he had his hands on my shoulders, but I had gotten over it quickly. So, at this point, I was not afraid to make a suggestion.

“Well put me where I’m supposed to be. You’re better off doing that than talking me through it.”

He hesitated, “Do I have permission to touch you in that manner?”

I gave him a ridiculous look, “Really? I thought we crossed that line already.” He didn’t respond. “Of course you do, I’ll give you free rein if it helps at all.” He seemed stunned for only a second before he lined himself behind me. One hand went to my knee to push it inward a bit, which threw me off balance, but I ended up leaning on his hip while his other hand went for my hipbone. As soon as I recovered he poked my gut with a finger.

“Tighten here, do not be lazy. I understand you are trying to relax, but that defeats the purpose of the pose.” He took my arms as I tightened my core and twisted slightly. I felt the stretch and the wonderful feeling of popping in my spine.

“Oh, damn,” I breathed out, “that’s wonderful.” He stepped back and I fought to keep my arms up as his support left.

“Hold that for a few more breaths. Then you can resume the video.” The rest of the time alternated between following the video and pausing it to correct my poses. It easily doubled the time I had originally planned, but it was a welcome adjustment. The last stretches he helped me with were hip openers that I always struggled to gain ground on. Turns out having someone that knew how far to push your limits was a huge plus.

The last few minutes were devoted to the greatest pose in the world: the corpse pose. It was like a reward for all the new progress I had made, and I welcomed the out-of-body feeling I got from it. Of course, I had an additional teacher to thank on top of it all. My previous teachers were more like guides with simpler poses to follow along with. We never did anything complex enough to consider it a ‘breakthrough’ in capabilities. My video instructor ended with a ‘namaste’ and I closed YouTube.

“Are you going to do this again in the future?” I looked over to Cell, who had sat cross-legged on the floor nearby for the last part of the video.

“I would never be opposed to having more influence in your progress. I take it you are not opposed then either?”

It was incredibly difficult to hide my enthusiasm, but I kept it down to a dull roar, “I never realized how much I was missing in these poses, so, yeah, I’d be ecstatic.”

“I must admit, I was very underwhelmed by your choice on ‘instructor’ for this practice of yours. She’s mediocre, at best. You said you took a personal class in the past as well? What kind of teacher did you have there?” I smiled at the memory.

“She was a 65-year-old woman that worked at the city hospital. For her age, she was a fantastic beginner teacher and, honestly, inspiration for a healthy life. It was a good workout, but the real benefit was the stress relief.”

“How advanced was she? Could you perform at her level?”

“I picked up some things quickly, but there were still poses she could do that I couldn’t, but there were ones I learned, and she could not do. So we balanced each other out. We were really good friends too.” It was quiet for a bit. The awkward moments like this still occasionally happened, but I was learning to enjoy the peace rather than squirm in it. And it didn’t usually last too long.

“Why are you not in that class anymore?” His hesitation was a bit obvious, but I was glad he asked.

“She got promoted and sent to another hospital in the next state over. We still keep in touch, but not frequently enough…” I noticed his posture relax as soon as I said that. “What kind of answer were you expecting?” I pressured him.

“For a moment I feared I had brought up another bad situation…perhaps that she had died and you lost your motivation.” I felt bad, but I genuinely laughed.

“Nah, nothing like that! I was happy for her and told her I was a yogi for life because of her, but that also took the only instructor they had in the area away. I’m sure they found a replacement, but it would never be the same.”

“Well, at least you maintained some of your ability; albeit not with the greatest of instructors, but you retained the discipline. That alone contributes to your development significantly.” I stretched my arms over my head and was just about to head back upstairs when he started again, “One more thing, if you don’t mind.”

With a small tilt with my head I paused, “Sure, what’s up?”

“You said you were able to do things your instructor could not, correct? Could you show me one?”

In an instant I went back to my mat and started rotating my wrists and rolling my shoulders, “Yeah, this one was fun to learn, and she had me demonstrate it in class a lot since I was the only one that could do it!” I bent my knees and crouched on the mat, palms together at my chest and my elbows pressed against my knees. I leaned forward and put my hands to the floor while putting my weight on my wrists. Finding my center of gravity, I lifted my feet and balanced perfectly on my hands. “This is the crow pose, but it’s really hard for the elderly with arthritis in their wrists. That’s why she couldn’t do it.” The pose forced me to look to the floor so I couldn’t see Cell anymore, but I could hear him just fine.

“Not bad. How long can you hold that?” I could feel my wrists disagreeing with me already, but I pushed through it.

“Eh, maybe 30 seconds? I’ve never gone longer than ten seconds, so that might be pushing it…” I could still talk, but I was straining to concentrate on both.

“Can you push yourself into a handstand from there?”

I immediately started laughing, and my balance went with my concentration and I had to fall back on my heels. I clenched my fists as I set on my knees, “That’s funny. It took me months just to find the balance and the wrist strength to do this.” After a second I raised a brow at him, “Can you?”

The look he shot me was of absolute disbelief, “I do hope that was rhetorical.”

I clapped my hands together, “Wonderful, I wanna see it.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Please? Show me how.” My eyes were lit and I kept the bright expression on my face despite his disgruntled one. I could not falter; if he could teach me the more advanced moves then I could reach the levels I had always wanted to do.

“It is pointless and does not benefit me or you in any way.”

I was ready to challenge that. I have learned how far to push him.

“I can look at pictures and watch videos all day and get nowhere. But if you can explain how to do it, guide me and correct me when I’m wrong, then I’ve got a chance. Help me.”

He closed his eyes, sighed, and then chuckled with a small smirk.

“Tell me, why do you want to see this so badly?” His eyes opened with a mischievous glint in them. My composure was slipping pretty badly at this point and I grinned from ear to ear.

“Inspiration!” I chirped proudly. “Motivation, ya know, all that good stuff,” I giggled with a wink. With a sigh his arms came from across his chest and he sat on his heels.

“Alright, to start off you need to stop putting your knees on your elbows. Get them higher; put them on your triceps.” He demonstrated as he talked, balancing on his palms. “From here you need to push your arms straight before attempting the handstand.” He did what I could only describe as a pushup but only on his hands as the muscles in his arms and shoulders rippled under his skin. “Once you find balance here then you can proceed with your legs. This will require much more core strength before you attempt it though.”

His legs went straight up toward the ceiling, but I held my breath as I realized he was too tall for the basement. His foot gently touched the ceiling. “Yeah, this location might not have been the best choice…” He bent his elbows so he could touch both feet, and then slowly reversed the moves. The control was staggering to watch and he showed little to no strain the entire time. He brought himself upright without a word and crossed him arms over his chest again.

“Satisfied?” he playfully huffed.

“Always am,” I smiled. I probably looked like a puppy being thrown scraps when he would give in to my pleads. The desire to see more poses was overwhelming, but I knew not to push my luck. “But I think I’m a few months out from being able to do that,” I giggled. He offered a hand and pulled me up from my knees.

“I can work some extra strength training to aid you with that. Your shoulders aren’t quite where you need them to be, but it won’t take too long.”

“Alright, so pushups? Weights? What are we lookin’ at?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” With that he turned and headed back up the stairs. I cleaned up the mat and other tools before heading back upstairs myself.

The day continued with the usual routines: laundry, dishes, dog and horse-related chores, and any other miscellaneous situations that arose. A random text from my mother surprised me, but it didn’t require an instant response, so I left it unanswered. I hadn’t heard from her in so long I was happy to see who it was from, but mom’s messages were always…ambiguous.

She’s always been that way, and, to be fair, I didn’t really fall far from that tree.

And I knew that if I didn’t get a panicked message from my little brother it wasn’t anything to worry about.

Lunch was uneventful, but then I was informed that I was cooking dinner for two tonight.

As I cut the vegetables and prepared the rice cooker I found myself resorting to previous sauces and seasonings. I went through the motions as I stir-fried the beef strips, mixed in the vegetables and brought the plates out. Cell never said a word throughout the meal. He never did, aside from the ‘thank you’ as I collected the plates after. 

I always wanted to ask him if he ever got bored of the flavors, but I knew much better than that by now. It seemed like he treated food as a necessary evil, like how we look at doctor or dentist appointments. He was never curious about the process or asked in advance what I was making. Just a simple ‘I request a meal tonight’.

I went to bed with an unsettled feeling in my gut. It was happening more and more frequently and it was getting harder to ignore. Plans to apply for new jobs were tossed to the wind. Money wasn’t technically an issue, but it couldn’t last forever either. I kept telling myself ‘One more year won’t hurt’ and ‘As soon as this is over’, but those were the same things I told myself two years ago.

As much as I enjoyed the distraction he provided, it was starting to take its toll.

A/N: As of this chapter this story is officially posted both here and at fanfiction.net. Ff is where I started with this story and I am much happier with the process here at AO3, but I will continue to keep up on both sites. Thank you all for your continued support!


	13. Double-Check Your Phone

Chapter 13

Double-Check Your Phone

My eyes opened to darkness again. I groaned; the alarm hadn’t gone off yet. Great. Wondering if it was even worth closing my eyes again I grabbed my phone to light up the time.

5:55 AM

I stared for a moment, and then suddenly bolted up in the bed, still staring at the phone.

“What!?! NO!! How…!?” I was freaking out! The alarm never went off! I quickly went to the settings only to find it was never set. Cursing to myself, I threw it to the bed and started flying across the room, gathering my clothes and bolting for the bathroom.

The sun was up by the time I ran out the back door. I wanted to be thrilled that I was ready in only a few minutes, but there was no room to be proud today. I had promised not to be late. Each step was shaky but I kept moving forward, head low with my lip between my teeth. There were definitely tears of shame threatening to well, but I grit my teeth and held them back. I stopped a few meters back, noticing that he hadn’t turned to greet me as he usually did. Instead I stood there, cursing my phone and cursing my body for not waking just 5 minutes sooner…

“How disappointing,” his voice cut through the cool air like a knife. I clenched my fists as my breaths started to shudder. “I recall being told that you would never be late,” he stressed as he turned toward me.

After taking a short breath I stuttered out my apology, “I am so, so sorry! I thought I set my alarm…” I grimaced after hearing how pathetic that sounded. Over a month of being not only on time but even early I assumed setting the alarm was habit now. I wanted to fall to my knees and bargain over my tardiness, but I both knew better and would never let myself stoop that low.

Instead I swallowed my shame and braced myself. There were too many options for me to even guess what was coming. I feared being hurt but I feared being shamed. I saw him step forward and my eyes started to trail down to avoid seeing that look of disappointment on his face.

“Eyes up. I will not tolerate such disrespect.” The sharp tone forced me to straighten and my eyes snapped up to his. My knees went weak from that look but not for the usual reason. He was not taking any delight in this and his eyes weren’t gleaming with any devious intent. This was pure, unadulterated offense. Outright insulted. “For all that I have taught you I would never have expected such delinquency in return. Does my training no longer interest you? Should I consider you my student anymore?” He may as well have drawn a knife straight through my chest. The tears were definitely threatening now. I’d rather he tossed me around until I could no longer get up than be lashed at like this. I sucked in a hard breath and furiously shook my head.

“No…! That’s not…this is an accident…!” my voice cracked, “I swear on everything, this won’t happen again! Double alarms, triple, whatever…!” I was shaking, nearly sweating, and feeling my pulse slam in my ears as I kept the last bit of composure I had left in my words. “Please, forgive this one time. If it happens again, I won’t plead.” His lip turned slightly at the last line.

“Is that so?” I took another deep breath and quelled the shaking for a moment.

“It will not happen again.” My voice cracked again, but I brought it back down, “Do what is necessary, give me whatever punishment you feel is fitting…make me fear being late!” Panic was coursing through me as I felt my guts spilling out with every word. I was practically kneeling anyway with how badly my knees were shaking. My eyes stayed on his, nearly praying that he wouldn’t toss everything I said aside.

He sighed as he looked away. This was insane. An entire month’s worth of trust and practice with each other and with one slip he was ready to shelve it. Real fear had crept inside me. I swallowed hard again and wet my dry lips, waiting for those few words he could say to undo everything. His head turned back to me.

“Very well. One last chance.” His arms came back up across his chest, “You will not be avoiding punishment, however. Today’s lesson will be postponed.” I nodded with a sigh.

“That’s more than fair,” I offered a weak smile. I still wanted to cry but out of relief now. Seeing as there wasn’t going to be a time for that I brought my focus back again.

“How fast do you think you can run?” My eyes widened; that was sudden.

“Uh, in what? Distance? Sprinting?” He scanned the area around us a bit before looking back to me.

“If you were to sprint as fast as you could, what would be your top speed?”

“Uh, geez…I’d probably top out around 15, maybe 16 mph…” Those were just ballpark numbers from college so it probably wasn’t accurate anymore but it was all I had to go on.

“Really? Is that all?” his tone sounding as disappointed as he looked. I meekly turned my palms up and shrugged.

“Sorry…still human.” I wasn’t even being cheeky; that was just a common response he got now. He motioned over to the other side of the yard.

“And the forest here,” he gestured, “what is the distance you estimate from the edge to the other side?” Not seeing where he was going with this I looked out over my shoulder.

“It’s about 2 acres to the field. I don’t know what the conversion is…” There were stakes that marked everything at one point but they were taken down after the house was sold, save for the one the farm field had marked. At this point I was ball parking the distance. He seemed to be mulling something over but those were cryptic clues for a punishment. He started walking across the yard.

“Come, this will have to suffice.” Hesitant but curious I started to follow him until he stopped at the path that I normally took with the dogs. It was narrow and not well maintained but it was visible and clear of major obstacles. “Would it be fair to say that the distance would be about 130 meters then?”

“I really have no clue….so I’ll just trust that,” I shrugged at the numbers. There was a time when I did know, but at this point I knew what an acre felt like so I never really needed to look again. I looked up as he turned to face me. There was no confident grin, no snarky smile; just a flat, unreadable look. My heart sank; normally he was so dynamic in his motions, his expressions, even his tone, but he gave nothing away now.

“You are going to run as fast as you can. Your goal is to get to the field on the other side. Since you can’t move half as fast as I can, I’m going to give you a 10 second head start.”

I balked at that. Half as fast? Can he really get to 40 mph?

“Head start?” I hesitated.

“After 10 seconds I’m going to chase you down. If you get to the field before I catch you then the punishment ends. But if I catch you…” his lip twitched slightly, “well, let’s just say you don’t want me to catch you.” The drop in his tone was chilling. I barely managed another breath before he narrowed his eyes.

“10.”

Oh my god.

I turned on my heel and bolted down the path, only catching him say ‘nine’ in the first few paces before I was too far to hear him. I kept up the count as close as I could despite my mind racing. Three more large strides got me over the root-meddled path.

‘Eight’

I kept moving with everything I could muster, my feet slamming into the dirt in desperation.

‘Seven’

Was I counting fast enough? I could feel how quickly I was barreling down the path but knew it probably wouldn’t matter.

‘Six’

The path wasn’t perfectly straight and I had to shift a bit to round a few trees; that was definitely lost time.

‘Five’

My lungs were trying to keep up as I gasped for my breath, my heart pounding to keep the blood moving fast enough for me to keep going…

‘Four’

I had no clue if I was terrified, excited, or just accepting the fact that I had screwed up and deserved everything I was getting at this point. I realized I was almost halfway through the woods now.

‘Three’

I caught another wave of energy and pushed on harder, taking advantage of a straightaway to move as fast as I could.

‘Two’

I looked ahead and could see the edge of the fields. Yes, it wasn’t far! But ten seconds wasn’t going to be enough to make it! I dared to look over my shoulder just to see if he had started yet.

I immediately regretted it as he moved with ease through the trees. I could barely hear his steps but the leaves and branches he was hitting were giving away how close he was. There was no time. I was going to be caught effortlessly. I couldn’t outrun him; I couldn’t fight him…

But I was smaller than him. A LOT smaller.

Keeping a fast pace I picked out a tree with a thicker trunk. I could practically feel him closing in on me as I wrapped my arm around the tree and swung myself around on it, ducking down as I whipped around. His shadow covered me as he ground his heels to the ground, sliding past me and turning around in one fluid motion, but I was back on my feet and pushed from the tree to get moving again. I only caught a small mumble as I took off.

“Clever”

I darted through the trees, intentionally picking dense areas just to make sure he had to take the long way around to catch up and I kept my eyes on the rest of the trail. I could see the tracts of fields just beyond the tree line; I just needed a few more seconds to get back up to speed again…

Feeling him closing in on me once more I quickly picked another tree to duck low around and zigzagged away from him, hearing a small snarl from him this time as he broke through a few branches behind me. My heart pounded loudly in my ears and my breaths were heavy, but the thrill was overriding my genuine fear for the moment. I made a last jog around another set of shrubs and found a clear straight shot out of the woods. My arms propelled me on and my form fell in place as I gathered up the last of my stamina and let my feet fly.

Not far now… I felt my shoes grip the hard dirt below me and I dug in harder, going in for the home stretch. There were no roots, no branches in the way; I was going to make it!

I don’t know how the hell he got ahead of me but I caught him just out of the corner of my eye before I was violently tackled to the ground, rolling across the dirt and feeling the branches cut into my arms and legs as I grinded to a halt. My energy pretty much vanished and was replaced with a horrid pain in my sides and lungs as I gasped desperately for breaths. He didn’t hit me; he flat-out launched me across the woods. My eyes fluttered open after a moment and flinched as he stepped into my view. He roughly grabbed my arm and I was hauled back to my feet, but as I put my weight on my legs I shook and buckled. His hand kept me up as I took in large gulps of air.

“Come along. Steady your breaths with your steps; you’ll recover faster.” Obeying without anything other than a small nod I let him pull me back down the path. Sure enough after several steps I felt my adrenaline level out and the shakes started to dissipate. His hand never let go of my arm, which I found odd but didn’t question, until we were off the path and in the backyard again.

My heart was still pounding as he turned around and faced the trail again. I had my hands on my legs as I leaned over, still catching my breath.

“Recovered yet?” I looked up after another hard breath.

“No…” That sadistic grin covered his face.

“Too bad.” My face fell and my eyes widened. “10.”

“Wha…!” a horrid whine poured from my astounded look. His eyes narrowed once again.

“9…”

In absolute desperation I dug my heels to the dirt and went for it, cursing very quickly between my breaths. My stamina was pretty much junk now. Why in the world was I even trying at this point? I had given everything I had in that first run! I could hear him counting from the little distance I had between us, so it was clear he intended on continuing this new ‘game’ whether I was able to or not.

After another step I realized my mistake. This wasn’t a game.

This was the punishment.

The message was becoming clearer with each step I pounded into the dirt, feeling the pain in my sides as I pushed onward. I was nowhere near halfway when I realized my time was up once again. I turned around fully to see how far back he was and nearly died when he was much closer than I had hoped he would be. I looked at the large trees again and nearly laughed at myself, ‘Yeah he ain’t falling for that again’.

Instead I started to put the obstacles between us more, trying to find denser areas to maneuver around and ducking under low-laying branches, but he moved around them so easily that I might as well have not tried them at all. Once again he sidled up beside me and, with much less force this time, sideswiped me to the ground. My breaths were desperate and ragged but he paid no mind to them as he hauled me up by my arm again. Without a word I let him drag me back out of the woods again.

This time I swear he let me breathe for about a full minute before the countdown started again. I didn’t let the first second go to waste this time and, with what little energy I had recovered, paced myself as I jogged down the path again. Scanning the woods I tried finding other little obstacles I could take advantage of that I knew well enough to handle, but 10 seconds was barely enough time to get any amount of distance to use. With both outrunning him and outmaneuvering him out of the question, the only option I had left was to stall. I used the last of my speed to hurry to a specific tree and stood several feet behind it, keeping it between us.

He caught up to me quickly but as I watched him between the forked branches in the tree he slowed and walked up to the other side of it. I braced my legs and tucked my arms in as I prepared for the game of cat-and-mouse we were about to play. He stopped a good ten feet from the forked tree as well, sizing up the trap I had him in. The tree was large enough around that I could circle around it but too small for him to try to dive between the forked trunk. It was nearly perfect to keep him guessing. He crossed his arms and huffed from the other side.

“And how long do you think this little game will last?” I flashed a grin back between quick breaths.

“I’ve already lasted longer than last time…”

“You’re not wrong.”

The adrenaline was rushing again as he took another step. I matched him to make sure the distance stayed the same and kept my arms tight and feet steady. He stepped to the right; I matched with a few steps to the left. Testing the waters he turned and went to the left and I quickly mirrored him to the right. He stopped where he started, and I did the same. A grin stretched across his face.

“This turned out to be very interesting after all…” He slightly crouched down and leaned forward, almost like a baseball player preparing to steal a base. I was already braced but I didn’t have a real plan for anything other than dancing around until someone gave up.

This was more than likely going to end up being me.

“Are you ready?” he called out.

I smiled back, “Ready as I’ll ever be!” With that he darted forward and I got defensive, shuffling my feet to mirror his, keeping the tree between us as well as I could. His arm came around and I pushed off the trunk to keep ahead of him, leveraging myself against the trunk each time he moved around to the other side. He rushed around trying to flank me but the tree was just big enough to give me the time I needed to keep one step ahead of him. His arm reached again and I shrieked as I turned tail and hurried around to the other side. His growls mixed with his chuckles and I found myself laughing aloud.

The game only lasted another few more seconds but it felt like we played much longer than that. It ended when he faked me out and I rushed around only to get caught up in a bear hug. He didn’t crush me but kept me from being able to struggle free. Winded from everything I didn’t fight and just caught my breath.

He let me go and I dropped awkwardly to the ground, still catching my breath but not shaking.

“Well I suppose that will be everything today. You’ve plateaued. You won’t improve anymore.”

“I don’t think I was improving…” I sputtered between heavy breaths, “I gave 100% in that first run. It’s been all downhill from there.” He shook his head and started walking back towards the house.

“You’re only looking at your speed and stamina. I was looking at your strategies.” With that I followed him back out again grateful that I wasn’t going to have to run again. At this point I would have just let him throw me down rather than giving him a decent chase. The walk down the path was short and we stood out on the green lawn. It was brightly lit now as the sun was high in the sky.

“I’ve taken some interest in how you change your approaches to every challenge I’ve put forth.” I was excited now; he was back in lecture mode. “When you realized you couldn’t overpower me or outrun me you altered your tactics accordingly. During the week I let you wield a weapon you got creative quickly.”

I grinned at the reminder of that week, “Yeah, but the real challenge was just keeping the stick in my hands. You kept swatting it from me like it was a toothpick…”

“But the fact was you kept learning and adjusting. Even if it was minor you still tried several strategies. I have been entertained by it and will probably continue to test you in such manners.”

“It has been fun, despite a couple of rough patches…”

“And after today I doubt they will happen again.” There was that mocking tone again but I hung my head in defeat.

“Yeah, I think it was a good enough reminder.” It was quiet for a few moments. Then he turned and headed back towards the house.

“Let’s call it a day. You look like you need breakfast anyway.” I eagerly followed him back to the house and continued with the rest of the day.

Then evening rolled around.

I stifled a yawn and realized just how tired I had gotten and headed to the living room for my phone. Cell was sitting on the couch for his version of ‘rest’ for the night. His eyes opened as I leaned over to pick my phone up from the end table.

“I’ll see ya in the mornin’,” I smiled. He lifted a brow with a grunt.

“Hm, if you wake tomorrow,” he teased. I grinned and waived my phone between us.

“It is set this time; I will NEVER be late again.” An evil grin spread across his face.

“Are you sure this time?” I sighed loudly and pulled up my alarm settings on the screen.

“I remember setting it this time so there’s no way I’ll miss out tom...” I trailed off. The alarm was off. It was still there, set for 5:35 AM, but off. My brows furrowed, my mouth fell slack, and my eyes slowly traveled over the top of my phone.

That look on his face told me everything I needed to know. His eyes were bright with mischief and that grin grew ever so slightly.

“Good thing you checked again.” My jaw clenched and I felt the heat rising again. The way he acted, how he was so insulted when I didn’t get out before sunrise, how he ripped me to bits with every accusation…

A billion horrible, obscene profanities ran through my mind, but I stood there, fuming as my lips twisted into a furious snarl. Each exhale was louder than the last, my eyes narrowing more and more with each screaming insult that ran through my head.

“Are you KIDDING me…!” I started but clenched my hand more to keep what else I wanted to say at bay. His head tilted slightly as he leaned a bit forward, egging me on for what all I wanted to say. “Tell me you didn’t!” I growled. He shrugged lightly.

“I kept waiting for the day to come, but you were always on time. So, I decided to create the situation and see how it played out…” he motioned to my phone. I was at a loss for words. He set it up, played along as I poured out my guts to him, made me nearly cry before him…

I looked down at my phone again, turned the alarm back on and calmly set it down on the end table again. I turned my gaze back to him again and glared. The seconds ticked by with our eyes locked on each other. I made note of the throw pillows within my grabbing distance.

Without breaking eye contact I snagged one and threw it right at his face, but felt my stomach bottom out as he caught it with little effort. I kept my glare steady as he lowered the cloth weapon, his eyes narrowing as he did.

“Interesting weapon choice for an attempt on my life…” his amused tone carried between us. I kept the poker face I had on despite how slightly terrified I was.

“I hope your life flashed before your eyes.” He was calm as he fiddled with the pillow, his eyes casually traveling between me and the ‘weapon’.

Without another word I quickly grabbed the other pillow and went for it, swinging for his head as hard as my arm would let me but he had the same idea and I was sent sprawling to the floor, pillow still in hand. I sat up quickly, ready to dive in again but he leaped from the couch and straddled his legs around me before I had a chance and whacked me over the head again.

I squealed with each _thunk_, bringing my arms and the pillow over my head, trying to stop his brutal assault, but I panicked as soon as his other hand grabbed my pillow and yanked it away!

“Ah! No no no no…!” I continued to squeal and struggle as he continued alternating his attacks, battering me back and forth. My legs were pinned under his again (I made a note to not jerk my knees up this time) and buried my head under my arms as I took the beating. As each pillow knocked me back and forth I timed it and lunged forward, throwing both arms forward and shoving them into his chest.

For a second I thought I surprised him enough to try to roll away, but he kept his balance and spread his arms out wide, sandwiched my head between the pillows, and pushed me flat on the floor.

“So, how well did that strategy work out for you?” he laughed as he held the pillows on either side of my face. I surrendered and let my arms fall to the floor, letting out a defeated, muffled groan.

“Yrr a’ asshh.” I could breathe fine, but my squished cheeks made it tough to tell him off. He leaned in closer, playfully squishing my head between the pillows once more.

“What was that? I couldn’t quite make that out, you sound like you’re buried under something…” I brought up a fist and pounded a few times on his shoulder, or at least what felt like it.

“Yeah, I’m buried under this behemoth of an android, who is also a total ass.”

“I am not a behemoth!” He almost sounded offended, but it just wasn’t quite convincing enough.

“Not yet? If I keep feeding you maybe you’ll hit behemoth status!” I heard his strained groan.

“You really don’t understand the predicament you are in right now, do you?” he chided, squishing the pillows repeatedly.

“Clearly at death’s doorstep. I’ll tell them the behemoth of an android sent me!” The pillows were pulled off and his arms crossed over his chest as he leered down at me.

“You do realize that is exactly why I do not ask for meals often?” I didn’t try to move out from under him, partially because he was resting some of his weight on my legs, but also because I was actually comfortable.

I propped an arm under my head, “I don’t think you have to worry. You don’t sit around the house depressed and lethargic. You can afford the luxury of eating good food.” He grimaced at the statement. “Besides! There’s so much more I want you to try! I’d love to take you out to some good restaurants.”

“What you have provided has been more than I already need. I do not need to consume more…” His tone changed slightly, and I felt a little bad for pushing the suggestion so hard.

I softened my tone, “Hey, I’m not trying to make you eat more. I just want you to try some different things other than the 4 meals I know how to cook. Y’know, variety. And I haven’t gone anywhere decent in ages cuz eating alone sucks.”

“This would also involve putting me with other humans for an extended period of time.” He didn’t seem angry, just dreading the idea of being outside of his comfort zone for a few hours.

I shrugged as I goaded him, “If you’re still too scared to be in public I guess it can wait ‘til you’re ready…”

“I am NOT scared,” he snarled. But then he leveled his tone more, “Why are you trying to convince me?”

I sighed; I wanted to discuss this eventually, preferably under better circumstances, but there’s no time like the present. “Because this looks like it might be a longer-term situation that I thought it would be.” I let that line sink in for me for a moment. I was still having a hard time believing that this whole situation was real until I realized it was starting to limit my normal life. While this wasn’t his world to acclimate to, the world was still turning for me and I had to put my life on hold for the past two months.

And I couldn’t wait forever for him to decide if he wanted to participate or not.

“I don’t know how long you’re going to be here. At first, I was worried you’d be gone too soon, but now…”

“I am a burden to you, correct?”

I flinched. “I don’t like that word…it doesn’t feel right. Yes, there are a few things I wanted to do this year, but they’re nothing I would trade for this. So, no, you are not a burden.” I rolled a few ways to word my thoughts without sounding too aggressive. “I just want to involve you a little more, and stop feeling like I’m hiding you all the time…”

“You intend to reveal me to your world? After all this fear you’ve had and keeping me hidden?”

I immediately put my hands up defensively, “Dear god, no. I’m not going to put a sign on your back that says, ‘I’m Cell from DBZ Fear me’. People don’t ask questions around here. As long as nothing bad happens, they have no reason to ask who you are.” He was still on my legs, so I hadn’t angered him enough to make him leave just yet. “Besides, y’kinda owe me.”

That got his attention. Eyes wide he looked back at me, “And how so? Pray tell, I am curious.”

“Your little prank nearly broke me this morning. I was really close to actually crying…” I laughed. It was funny now, but at the time, it was by far the worst experience with him.

And just like that, his closed composure fell apart and he grinned with a hearty laugh, “Trust me, I am well aware. I heard every word from you. You know how to insult yourself quite well. It was the greatest test of my own poker face thus far. I assume you believe I ‘owe’ you for the trauma I caused you?”

“I wouldn’t call it trauma, but it hurt like hell,” I pouted. I didn’t know if he understood the lengths I would go to keep him comfortable here, but that entire episode was traumatizing to me in so many other ways that I wouldn’t know how to explain it to him. “I truly value what we have here, I don’t wanna lose it. And I thought I was about to.”

He sighed, “Stop that, I hate sentimental rubbish.”

“Sorry,” I laughed, “but if you keep testing me like that you’ll make me cry eventually. Then what will you do?”

“I will not do it again. It was my one and only test of your emotional willpower. I saw what I needed to.”

I waited for him to continue. A solid five seconds ticked by in my head. I couldn’t wait anymore.

“What was it? What were you looking for?” He grinned and reached his hand to my head and ruffled my hair over my face.

“Many things. Nothing to worry your pretty little head over.” With that, he stood up and offered me a hand. “You have managed to distract yourself well past your bedtime. And don’t forget about that alarm,” he teased as I took his hand and he pulled me up.

I threw the pillows back on the couch and grabbed my phone. “I know you said you wouldn’t do it again, but I’m still gonna be paranoid for eternity.” He went back to the couch and I headed for bed. I poked my head around the corner real quick, “And you’re still an ass.”

He mumbled something as I walked away but, of course, I couldn’t make any of it out. So I ignored it, shuffled into my sweats and a tank and crawled in bed with the dogs. I rolled the conversation over and over in my mind, slightly disappointed that I couldn’t get any answers from him.

But the words ‘pretty little head’ stuck with me until I fell asleep.

I <3 Feedback!


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